High School Can Really Burn
by Recalled to Life
Summary: My first fanfic. Zuko, escaped from the Fire Nation and his entire world along with Iroh, is enrolling in a modern-day high school in an attempt to blend in. Unfortunately, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee are on his trail. Rated T purely for safety.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note**: Well, this is my first fanfic. (Then again, you probably read the summary so you know that). I warn you in advance: the prologue is suckish. It doesn't make sense (or even happen) until much later, no one has a name, etc. My excuse: I needed to start with something. The story gets much better, trust me.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

**Warnings**: Maiko in early chapters, Zutara later on, one-sided Kataang and Tokka, and Edward Cullen fangirls. Lots of Edward Cullen fangirls. And some parody of my experiences at high school (I didn't intend for it to be offensive to anyone, but Soulja Boy fans, be warned!) Now I should probably stop before this is longer than the prologue...

* * *

Running… running… running… She couldn't stop running. She had to end this madness. She slammed a metal door behind her. Maybe it would slow them down… Maybe it wouldn't. Either way, she couldn't take a break. The door flew open with a clatter. So it didn't help much… She kept running, risking a quick glance behind her. Only one of them was left. It was somewhat fitting, considering that she was the last of her group standing to the best of her knowledge… She found the room that was the goal of her mission. It was empty, to her pleasure. She ran faster… better to go quickly now.

"Stop right there!" the one chasing her shouted, "You know it's pointless!"

But the really pointless thing was telling her to stop. She would only run faster. Only a few more feet… Almost there… And then…

Lightning flashed, hitting her in the leg. She fell. The package she carried dropped. Glass shattered. All was lost.

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**A/N**: I warned you it was suckish... Please don't flame me.


	2. A Girl Named Fred

**Author's Note:** Remember when I said it would get better? It's about to! The "humor" mentioned in the little summary thing now appears!

**Disclaimer:** I still do not own Avatar. I also don't own Monk, Psych, or Naruto. Hooray for random pop culture references!

* * *

Fred Culvid strolled through the overcrowded main hall of Blaceenth High School. It was the dreaded day that marked the beginning of the end... Open House. Summer was basically over and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Soon, she would have to go upstairs and meet the teachers who would make her life miserable for her freshman year. She looked at the various booths set up for the purpose of advertising school clubs and teams. There was one in particular she was looking for... Track and field. Fred Culvid was, if nothing else, a runner. But she only had so much time... Then, she saw it. In big red letters, "JOIN THE BLACEENTH TRACK TEAM TODAY!" She rushed forward to grab an information flyer before...

"TALLULAH!" Fred's mother called, "I FOUND THE PERFECT CLUB FOR YOU!" Fred cringed at her given name. That was one reason she had tried to ditch her mother. "Fred" just sounded so much nicer. And Fred's mother was also obsessed with the idea that Fred should be just one of the girls. Fred had tried to convince her mom that being a tomboy was a relatively normal thing these days, but no one ever paid any mind to it.

Fred glanced at the flyer that was being waved in her face. "Sophisticated Ladies' Club," it read, "Visit room 241 to join today." That was it. No clues as to what the Sophisticated Ladies' Club actually did, but Fred still didn't like the sound of it. She grudgingly took the flyer (which was hot pink) and stuffed it in her back pocket. She would transfer it to a trash can, first chance.

Fred walked up stairs with her mother to her homeroom class. The teacher was named Ms. Kowalski. She seemed fairly not-evil. Fred saw her friend, Milo sitting in the room. She sat in the desk next to him.

"So Milo, how was summer?" she asked. She knew the answer.

"Terrible!" Milo proclaimed vehemently, "There's hardly anything good on! Avatar still hasn't come back, and every other show is in its summer slump! Monk and Psych distracted me for a bit, but after that, all I had was the American dubs of Naruto!! Thankfully fall is coming back." That was Milo for you. Television-obsessed as always. But Fred was willing to put up with it, since Milo had stuck by her since preschool.

"Hey, are you joining a carpool?" Fred asked, breaking Milo out of his TV-rant, "I really don't want to ride the bus, but my mom's busy in the morning and, well, it's a little far to walk to school."

"Yeah, I signed up," Milo answered, "I hope we get the same car."

The two friends listened to the teacher as she explained how Open House would work and et cetera, et cetera. Then they went their separate ways to meet their other teachers. Mrs. Johansen, the biology teacher was evil, but all of Fred's science teachers seemed evil to her. The algebra teacher, Mr. Smith turned out to be boring, monotoned, AND hard. Homework every night? A quiz every week? Ridiculous! At least she could pass notes to Milo in that class. Then was English with Ms. Kowalski. That didn't seem too bad. Then, Fred's elective (or lack thereof), study hall. She would simply do her homework, nothing else, under the watchful eye of the malicious, cold-hearted Home Ec. teacher, Ms. Flauna. Fred consoled herself that things could be worse. She could actually be taking Home Ec. Then, she saw the junior.

He was tall, with longish black hair and a scar over one of his lion eyes. He sat next to a chubby old man with long gray hair. And although Fred looked at the junior for a moment and then moved on, he was about to become a very important part of her life...


	3. Untitled

**Author's Note**: All right, here's the deal. I started writing this story an incredibly long time ago. Back last September. And, no, I'm still not done writing. And it's really weird to go back and look at the beginning now... Anyway, there are a few things in this chapter that are inconsistent with reality. I apologize for this, and would go fix them now, but they happen to affect things that are important to the plot. So please overlook them and enjoy the Zuko-ness. Thank you. And the chapter title is a pun, in case you were wondering.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Avatar. Just out of curiosity, do I have to say that before every chapter?

* * *

"I drank onion and banana juice for THIS?!" Zuko asked his uncle incredulously as they drove to their apartment. Open house was finally over and Zuko was not pleased. The girls at Blaceenth High seemed to do nothing but fawn over him. He missed the Fire Nation, strangely, even though he had been run out and had a remarkably high bounty on him. Simply for doing what seemed like the right thing, helping Uncle Iroh escape from prison.

"Well my nephew," Iroh began, "This will be an experience for you. You can interact with people your age and no one will-"

"I DON'T WANT TO INTERACT WITH PEOPLE MY AGE!" Zuko shouted. He felt his temper rising. He had to try to control it, or else he might firebend by accident. And apparently, no one could bend in this desolate little world. No benders. No elements. No Avatar. It was a lonely place. He took a deep breath and continued, "I haven't had good experiences with people my age, uncle. People my age want me dead. I'm sick and tired of people my own age."

"It is unfortunate you feel that way," Iroh grinned sheepishly, "Because I signed up to be a carpool driver!"

Zuko groaned and leaned over to rest his head on the car window pane. How did he get here exactly? Let's see... First he had discovered his relation to Avatar Roku and decided to help Uncle Iroh. Then Firelord Ozai had put a price on both of their heads. And then they had fled to the Earth Kingdom only to discover that Ba Sing Se truly WAS the last unoccupied city, town, or village. And THEN Zuko had been lectured about chi, chakras, the Spirit World and something about gateways. And THEN some nonsense about meditation, clearing your mind, and onion and banana juice. It was a loooong week. Zuko had thought... He had gained some insight into himself. He had discovered why he was angry with himself so often... He had spent his life being something he wasn't... The Fire Nation had seen to that... He also thought about Mai a lot... And that Water Tribe girl, Katara, although he didn't know why he thought about her. And then suddenly, he was in a strange bamboo forest asking a giant talking monkey for directions. And even though the directions seemed to contradict themselves, Zuko and Iroh had found themselves stepping through a door that led them here of all places. And then... change names? Check. Meet Daniel and Uncle Hiro. Find somewhere to live? Check. Iroh had found a dollar on the street and used it as money down on an apartment. Get "Hiro" a job? Check. A barista had quit at the local coffee shop. Enroll "Daniel" in school? Alas, check. Get driver's licenses? Check for Hiro, no check for Daniel. Stupid road rage.

Yet Zuko had the strangest feeling that this adventure would be the most dangerous thing he had ever undertaken... but then he thought about it for a moment and decided it must have been his imagination.


	4. Back to School

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Avatar. And not only that, but I don't own John Coltrane or Linkin Park either.

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Fred held her breath as she waited for the car to arrive. It was the dreaded... the hated... the first day of school. "Who needs school anyway?" she thought to herself. But it was to no avail.

She stood alone in the cool, bitter fall air, hoping the car that was supposed to pick her up would break down so she would have an excuse to be late and miss biology. But alas, a rusty old heap rounded the corner and stopped in front of her. The driver was the old man from open house and riding shotgun was the boy with the scar. Fred gave a long, heavy sigh. Everyone had to go sometime.

She opened the back door and the old man asked, "Your name is Tallulah Culvid?"

"Actually, everyone just calls me Fred," Fred replied as she got in and buckled her seatbelt.

"I am Mr. Hatake," the elderly man introduced himself, "But you may call me Uncle Hiro."

The teenage boy remained silent.

Fred could understand. He was most likely too tired to converse with anybody, much less some girl who was at least two years younger than him. She was fine with it. Relieved even, that he didn't give her any grief about her name. But Uncle Hiro decided to push it.

"Why don't you introduce yourself, my nephew," he didn't really ask as much as tell.

"My name's Daniel," the boy said as he continued to stare out the window. Fred could tell that he wasn't any happier than she was about this whole school thing.

"We have one more student to pick up," Uncle Hiro said, "His name is..." he fumbled with a piece of paper, "... Milo Dawson."

"Yes," Fred whispered to herself. She would have someone to talk to. An awkward silence pervaded the vehicle.

Uncle Hiro turned on the radio. Smooth jazz. Fred didn't mind it, but apparently, Daniel did. He quickly turned the dial to an alternative rock station. A radio war ensued. Soon the two began shouting.

"John Coltrane!"

"Linkin Park!"

"John Coltrane!"

"Linkin Park!"

Fred couldn't wait for Milo to show up.

After a compromise of no music had been reached, the car pulled up to Milo's corner. He grinned at Fred and got in the car. Then he saw Daniel and Uncle Hiro. He was suddenly flabbergasted.

"Y-y-y-you, y-y-you l-look like-" he pointed, open-mouthed.

"What?" Daniel asked, annoyed.

"Like-like-like," Milo began to senselessly babble.

Fred thought that Daniel and Uncle Hiro exchanged nervous glances, but it must have been her imagination. "What's with you?" she whispered to Milo.

"Them!" Milo whispered back frantically, "They-they're- they look like-"

"Like what?" Fred asked.

"Like-" Milo returned to his senseless babble, "Zu-Av-I-Fi-Pri-Unc-" and so on until they got to school.

Out of the car. Into the building. Up the stairs. Down the hall. Around the corner. Through the door. To the desk. In the chair. Only five minutes into freshman year and Fred felt like she had been in high school for all eternity. The bell rang and everyone was quiet, in their assigned seats. One-time deal, Fred thought, everyone's too tired to do anything right now, but they'll adjust. Her next thought echoed through out the minds of the entire class: Whose bright idea was it to start high school so early? But alas, they were up before the blessed sun and sitting under the harsh fluorescent lights of a classroom. Fred glanced at the paperwork on her desk and stuffed it into her backpack.

Later, she thought. She listened to Ms. Kowalski without really paying attention. Fred just absorbed the information. Homeroom would normally be after lunch. That made perfect sense. Make sure the kids are there and know what's going on after the day's half over.

Before Fred knew it, the bell rang again and it was time for first period. Fred didn't get a chance to ask about track. But it was time for science class.

"Who gives homework on the first day of school?" Fred asked herself incredulously as she stepped into Ms. Flauna's room. Mrs. Johansen and Mr. Smith apparently. She took a seat at a table by the door. She felt a breeze as the door flew open behind her. Daniel stormed in. Following him were two sophomore dancerettes and a junior cheerleader, giggling uncontrollably.

He sat at an empty table. One of the dancerettes sat next to him. Daniel moved. She moved. He moved again. She did too. Fred felt bad for him.

Daniel groaned and sat next to Fred.

"Hey, how's your first day?" Fred asked.

"Bad," Daniel grunted. An awkward silence... Any further conversation was smited as Ms. Flauna entered the room.

At the end of the whole day, Fred had learned that track try-outs were in two weeks. But one thing was really bugging her. Milo never explained his meltdown on the way to school. She couldn't see anything unusual about Daniel or Uncle Hiro... She was incredibly tired. She glanced at the clock. 9:14. As she drifted off into Dreamland, she could have sworn she saw bright lights right outside her window...


	5. Crossing Over

**Disclaimer**: I continue to not own Avatar.

* * *

"We have a new task, girls," Azula paced back and forth, "We need to find my worthless brother, find him and end him

"We have a new task, girls," Azula paced back and forth, "We need to find my worthless brother, find him and end him."

Mai sat, listening dutifully, but she was sick and tired of Azula talking about Zuko that way. Couldn't she see how painful it was for her? This was Zuko…her Zuko. But Mai wouldn't dare say anything about it. Azula was her best friend, her only friend, really, unless you counted Ty Lee.

"He has betrayed our nation in favor of my fuddy-duddy uncle," Azula continued, "And no one can seem to find either of them."

"But you must know where they are!" Ty Lee exclaimed, eager and overjoyed as usual.

"I think I do," Azula's mouth twisted into an evil, knowing grin, "I think I do… My uncle, fool that he is, picked an ingenious hiding place…"

"Where?" Ty Lee asked, "Are they in this room?" She looked around, perhaps honestly believing that.

"No, genius," Mai rolled her eyes, "If they were, they'd be…" Mai couldn't finish her sentence. Zuko…

"Mai's right," Azula said, "They hid in a place they thought I could never reach. But according to a scroll I found among the late Admiral Zhao's belongings, there's a way to bring people over once you're there."

"That's why we're here I guess," Mai shrugged, "What do we have to do?"

"Go to this Spirit World place," Azula said, "Find something called the Gateway and go through it. Then, you'll just have to will me over."

"How do we do that?" Ty Lee asked.

"Just wish I was there," Azula shrugged, "Both of you at the same time. That's all it needs."

"All right, let's get this over with," Mai sighed. She wasn't looking forward to this in the least.

"Meditate," Azula instructed, "And drink some of this." She handed Mai and Ty Lee each a cup of something.

Mai took a sip and almost spat it back out. She swallowed hard and fumed, "This tastes like onion and banana juice!"

"That's because it is onion and banana juice," Azula glared, "It's supposed to help the process."

Mai took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She tried to think, but all her mind's eye could see was Zuko. Zuko leaving the palace, leaving the Fire Nation, leaving her. She winced and took another sip of onion and banana juice. She heard something fall to the floor. Ty Lee, most likely. It figured. Mai sat, still bound to the physical world. Zuko… "Find him and end him," Azula's words rang in Mai's ears. Azula… was she really such a great friend? Azula rarely understood Mai, but she was the only one who really listened at all these days. Even Zuko… Zuko… Zuko… Zuko kissing the Water Tribe girl… Mai awoke with a start.

"You fell asleep," Azula gave one of her less menacing smiles, "I suppose meditation is rather dull."

"Right," Mai nodded, "Where's Ty Lee?"

"Gone," Azula's grin grew a bit eviler, "She's wherever Zuzu is now."

Mai, still shaken by her nightmare, went back to meditating. It was harder now though, with the image of Zuko kissing the Avatar's little girlie friend etched into her brain. Suddenly, a series of new pictures jumped into her mind. A red forest. Then, a town, burning to the ground, soon flooded with water. Mai sat in one of the trees, watching as an Earth Kingdom flag turned into ashes and a Fire Nation flag sank… sank… sank into a foggy lake. She had seen that lake somewhere before… somewhere… in Never Never Land? What? Where did Never Never Land come from? She tried to imagine such a place.

Mai walked through a forest, all alone. No Azula, no Ty Lee, no Zuko. This was Never Never Land? She kept walking. Then, she saw someone. She couldn't see his face but from behind he looked vaguely like…

"Zuko?" Mai called, "Is that you?" No response. Mai ran up to the boy and turned him around. She jumped back. It wasn't Zuko. In fact, Mai was pretty sure she had never seen this guy before. Her eyes flew open.

"Mai, it's been three days," Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Three days?" Mai repeated incredulously, "It feels like it's been ten minutes."

"I just hope Ty Lee hasn't gotten herself into too much trouble," Azula shook her head, "She's essential to the plan."

Ty Lee found herself in a tiny room with wooden walls that didn't quite reach the floor or ceiling. She took a seat on the cold, white, water-filled chair. She stared at the pink tiling on the floor. Pink was such a pretty color. What was this place? She sniffed the air. Eww… she suddenly figured it out.

As Ty Lee left the bathroom, she was confronted with the biggest crowd she had ever seen. She would soon know it as "the mall."

"Hey," a teenage boy sidled up to Ty Lee, "I'm Bob."

Bob, what a funny name! "I'm Ty L-" Ty Lee started to say. But what if everyone had strange names here? "-Er" she finished, hoping that was sufficient, "Tyler."

"Great to meet you Tyler," Bob grinned.

One second, Zuko was leaving Mai behind and she felt fine. The next…

"I am Koh, the face-stealer," a giant centipede-like creature said.

"Great," Mai said, showing no emotion, "Where's the Gateway?"

"Aren't you going to scream?" Koh asked, "Or laugh? Or even smile?"

"No, not really," Mai shrugged, "The Gateway?"

"That way!" Koh pointed, "Don't you have any emotion at all!?"

"Not for you to see," Mai went the way Koh pointed, completely unaware of the danger she had just avoided.

Somewhere in the former Earth Kingdom, a teenage boy jumped awake. He would have cried out, but it would have been pointless. There was no one around, mainly because he had told them to leave. He reached for his swords, even though he knew it was just a dream. The Fire Nation… they had taken everything. His family, his town, his friends, and in this dream… his heart. He tried desperately, but he couldn't go back to sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Fwahaha! Mystery Guy! Feel free to guess who he is (and he is a canon character), although I'm not a liberty to reveal who he is for about 8 more chapters...


	6. That Night

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Avatar, or (take a deep breath…) Soulja Boy, _Jane Eyre_, _Twilight_, the awesomeness that is Edward Cullen (yes, I am a fangirl), or _All My Children_, which is what the television show Iroh is watching is.

* * *

A flash of light and Mai found herself lying on one of the many lawns of suburbia. "Time to find Ty Lee," she sighed. As she stood up, a timer inside the garage of the house turned to 9:15 pm and the sprinklers went off. Mai, caught off-guard, rushed out into the street, very nearly getting hit by a car. As the driver shook his fist and called her rude names, Mai noticed that her makeup was running. So far, this world was even worse than the last one.

"What's so great about coffee?" Iroh asked himself, "It can't be nearly as good as tea!"

He was about to close up shop when a thought struck him. Why not try it and see? He brewed a small cup for himself.

"This tastes disgusting!" Iroh proclaimed as he took his first sip… and his second… and his third…

Ty Lee approached a group of teenagers dancing in a parking lot to a song with indecipherable lyrics.

"Gosh that looks like fun!" Ty Lee gushed, "What song is it?"

"What?! You've never heard Soulja Boy before?!" one of the boys shouted at her.

"O…m…g…" a girl gasped, "Don't worry, I will save you from the terrible depths of your musical ignorance!! I shall teach you… the DANCE!"

"Where's Uncle Iroh?" Zuko muttered. It was 10:00. Uncle Iroh had said he'd be home by 9:30. And as much as Zuko hated, even loathed to admit it, he was worried as he waited in the apartment. He let five minutes go by before stomping out the door to go looking for Uncle Iroh.

"Ty Lee? What are you doing?" Mai averted her eyes. At least she had found Ty Lee…

"I think I'm cranking dat," Ty Lee continued to hop around like a hog monkey.

"What?!" Mai asked, "Never mind… We need to… um… find our other friend."

"Oh!" Ty Lee suddenly remembered, "That! Right! I'm really sorry guys! I have to go!"

"Good-bye Tyler!" the crowd off teenagers waved.

"Come on," Mai said, "Somewhere quiet." After they were a safe distance away, "Tyler?" Mai raised an eyebrow.

"Everyone here has weird names," Ty Lee explained, "You can probably get away with Mai, but they spell it with a 'y' here."

"That is weird," Mai agreed, "All right, let's do this."

Even with Mai's newfound doubts, Azula crossed over easily.

"So this is where they've been hiding…" Azula smiled, "Looks dull."

"You'll need a new name," Mai interrupted Azula's reflections.

"Then let's go find one," Azula nodded, slightly annoyed by Mai's temerity.

"What are you DOING?!" Zuko asked his uncle, who was staring through a window at a bunch of screens.

"Watching this teevee," Uncle Iroh gaped, "Dixie drove off a cliff in Switzerland, but she lived and got amnesia and thinks her name is Di! It's… so… mesmerizing…"

"Uncle, it's late," Zuko pointed out, "Aren't you tired?"

"I drank seven cups of coffee…" Iroh said, "I paid for them all… but I can't sleep."

"We're going home!" Zuko dragged his uncle away.

"NO!" Uncle Iroh screamed, "I MUST FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS TO DIXIE!"

Azula flipped through book after book after book, looking for a good name, in a used bookstore that happened to be open late. Mai and Ty Lee were looking too, but Azula didn't totally trust their judgment.

"How about Bertha?" Ty Lee asked, holding a copy of a called _Jane Eyre_. Ergo, not trusting their judgment. Azula didn't even deign to answer.

Azula picked up another book. _Eclipse_ by Stephenie Meyer. She skimmed over a few pages. They described a pathetic, clumsy girl, a vampire named Edward (who made Azula feel strangely… warm inside), and another vampire that seemed to be a mirror image of Azula. Cunning, cat-like, deadly.

"I have reached a decision," Azula replaced the book on the shelf as the clock struck midnight, "Here, I shall be known as Victoria."


	7. Beware, Homecoming Cometh

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Avatar or Macbeth for that matter.

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Zuko was drowning... drowning in a mob of teenage girls... but it wasn't an angry mob... it was... it was... A MOB OF CRAZED FANGIRLS! He woke up from his nightmare, secretly wishing it had been an angry mob. He hit the off button on his alarm clock so hard that it almost broke.

Zuko dragged himself out of bed for his third week of school. Excitement about homecoming was starting to build, even though it was a whole month away. Apparently, campaigning for homecoming court started next week.

Before he knew it, Zuko was in the car with Uncle Iroh. These mornings were getting shorter and shorter. A routine was forming. Time to start being Daniel and Uncle Hiro. Time to pick up Fred and Milo. Zuko didn't like Fred much, but she wasn't too bad. He'd much rather sit next to her in study hall than those other girls. But Milo on the other hand... he was annoying. And sometimes, Zuko got the feeling that Milo knew about everything.

"Good morning," Fred sighed as she got into the car. Seriously, who actually liked mornings?

"Good morning!" Uncle Hiro exclaimed. Ah, yes, Uncle Hiro did, apparently. The usual quiet followed, at least until Milo showed up.

"G-g-good m-morning," he stammered as he buckled his seatbelt. Still with the stammering? And the gaping in awe? And Zuko thought that pretending to be Lee was hard.

"How was your weekend?" Fred asked.

"All right. I guess," Milo shrugged. He glanced warily at Daniel and took a deep breath, "Hey Fre-" the car swerved to avoid a squirrel, cutting Milo off in mid-sentence.

"Sorry," Uncle Hiro smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, go on," Fred prodded.

"Uh..." Milo reconsidered what he was about to say, "How was your weekend?"

"Good," Fred smiled, completely unaware of what Milo had been thinking. Awkward silence, as usual. Routines were boring, but they had an upside. They were safe.

The car pulled up to the school and Zuko went to English class. Zuko didn't like English. Ms. Harrison, the teacher, was a veritable demon and Zuko had to sit in front of Christie, quite possibly the most annoying girl in the history of the universe.

"You should be prince," she whispered in his ear as the bell rang and class began.

"What?!" Zuko jumped. He quickly composed himself. How could Christie possibly know? He was just being paranoid.

"Homecoming prince," Christie clarified, "You would totally win."

"Not interested," Zuko shrugged.

"Aw, c'mon!" Christie whined, "I don't know a single girl who wouldn't vote for you!"

"I told you," Zuko glared, "I'm not interested in being a prince, EVER!"

Oh great, now Ms. Harrison was glaring at Zuko. This was turning into the best day ever.

"So what did you think of the second act of Macbeth, Daniel?" Ms. Harrison asked. Daniel? Who was Daniel? Oh, yeah...

"I think the visions Macbeth sees are hallucinations induced by his own guilty conscience," Daniel answered.

"Okay, that's the first two scenes. Now how about the rest?" Ms. Harrison raised an eyebrow.

"The sun is an archetypal symbol of wisdom, love, and goodness?" Daniel guessed. He hadn't actually gotten around to finishing the act, but the sun was _always_ an archetypal symbol of wisdom, love, and goodness.

"Good," Ms. Harrison nodded and moved on.

"Homecoming prince," Christie whispered again.

"No," Daniel repeated.

"I'm gonna keep saying it until you cave," Christie threatened in a sickly sweet voice.

"You'll be saying it forever then," Daniel sighed.

"I'll get friends too," Christie persisted.

"Not gonna happen," Daniel groaned.

"Daniel! Christie!" Ms. Harrison snapped, "Do either of you have something you want to say?"

"I do!" Christie chimed, "Daniel is running for homecoming prince!"

"Was that really necessary?" Ms. Harrison asked. Daniel wondered the same thing. He slammed his head down on his desk.

Milo knew that Fred was going to kick his butt for this, but he had to try anyway.

He put away his math notes and took out a clean piece of paper. He wrote, "Will you go to homecoming with me?"

"Hey could you pass this to Fre-" Milo started to whisper to Gabby, the girl sitting next to him. But, as usual, there was no point in it, because Gabby took the note and ignored Milo. She almost immediately returned it with a big, fat "NO" written on it. Milo turned bright red and returned to contemplating quadratic equations.

"Tell me you didn't," Fred groaned at lunch.

"Didn't what?" Milo took a seat.

"Ask Gabby to homecoming," Fred clarified.

"Uh... yeah, kinda, by accident," Milo admitted sheepishly.

"By accident? How- never mind, I don't want to know this time," Fred shook her head, "I was gonna say, that was a dumb thing to do. But it doesn't matter. I don't get it though, why does everyone get so worked up about homecoming? I'm not gonna go."

"Oh," Milo said. That was that then. So much for that idea. He started eating his lunch, trying to forget all about it.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Aw… Milo likes Fred… Behold the epic romance that shall play itself out over the rest of the story and beyond!


	8. Beware More, Homecoming Cometh Closer

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Avatar or "Hills like White Elephants," the short story by Ernest Hemmingway that Fred is reading in English… There's more symbolism in that story than I can get…

* * *

Zuko was fated to never know how Christie did it. But there it was. A huge poster in the cafeteria reading "VOTE DANIEL HATAKE FOR HOMECOMING PRINCE" with a picture of Zuko and everything. He groaned, shook his head, and sat at an empty table in the corner.

"So what's happening, Prince Charming?" Christie slid in next to him.

"Go away, Christie," Zuko huffed.

"Well, I was just thinking, now that you're on the ballot for homecoming court, you have to go to the dance," Christie paid Zuko no heed, "And those tickets can be _awfully_ expensive. But, y'know, there's a couple's discount. So I was thinking... Wouldn't it be _awesome_ if you and me went _together_?!"

"Go-a-way," Zuko said between clenched teeth, desperately fighting the urge to hit Christie with a fireball.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Christie hoped for the former.

"NO!" Zuko stomped his foot. He felt a few sparks come out, but fortunately, they didn't catch on the linoleum floor.

Even Christie realized that now was a good time to quit. But just as she left, another girl named Ashley took her place.

"Hey Daniel!" she gushed, "Wanna go with me to homecoming?"

"No," Zuko narrowed his eyes.

"Uh... well... ok then..." Ashley's eyes began to tear as she fled.

"Hiya Daniel!" a dancerette named Taylor took her turn, "Wanna cash in on that couple's discount?"

Zuko heaved a heavy sigh. It was going to be a looong lunch period.

As Milo was walking to History, an idea hit him. Since he couldn't forget about his earlier plans... Why not? He pulled out a pencil and a piece of paper.

Fred rushed to her locker to get her English binder. She had gotten slightly distracted by the postings of the track roster... SHE HAD MADE THE TEAM! She turned the lock as fast as it would go. As she yanked out the blue binder, a folded piece of paper fell to the ground. She grabbed it, slammed the locker shut, and ran off to class. She was going to be late.

Her backside hit the chair the exact second the bell rang. Fred gave a relieved sigh. She finally noticed the paper she was clutching. She had no idea where it came from. Fred uncrumpled the page.

"I like you," it read. No signature, no name, no nothing. Just, "I like you." Fred was baffled. But there wasn't much time to be baffled by a note. There was a short story by Ernest Hemmingway to be baffled by.

"Do you promise to not ask me to homecoming?" Daniel asked before the official start of Study Hall.

"Um... yeah, sure," Fred shrugged. She was one of the few not enamored with Daniel.

"Good," Daniel sat down next to her, "Every girl in school's been asking me."

"I got an anonymous note in my locker," Fred groaned, "Apparently, I have a secret admirer."

"One girl somehow got me on the ballot for homecoming prince," Daniel complained, "I-don't-want-to-be-a-prince."

"My best friend is getting caught up in this nonsense too!" Fred exclaimed, "He asked this one girl to the dance and EVERYTHING!"

"And now I HAVE to go to the stupid dance because I'm on the ballot," Daniel continued, "I HATE homecoming!"

"So do I!" Fred agreed. A moment of silence... Fred and Daniel looked at each other. Then, they began to laugh uncontrollably.

* * *

**Author's Note**_:_ Sorry if Zuko was a little OOC at the end, I just couldn't think of anything to end that chapter with…


	9. The Big Homecoming Chapter!

**Author's Note**: Behold! Chapter breaks! And lots of 'em!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Avatar or _Twilight_. Edward Cullen rules. I wish I owned him...

* * *

After their combined rant about homecoming, Fred and Daniel actually started talking in the mornings. That didn't exactly make Milo happy. Milo was both troubled and relieved that Fred hadn't guessed that he was the one who left that note in her locker. Why shouldn't she think it was him? At least she didn't actually reject him… What if she liked him back? What if she didn't, he didn't want to strain their friendship… Milo was still worried about Daniel, even though he had no reason to be.

Yes, Fred thought of Daniel like a brother and Zuko thought of Fred like a sister… another sister… another younger, fourteen-year-old sister… Zuko thought of Fred like a cousin. In this manner, the days flew by like autumn leaves on a crisp breeze.

* * *

"I should have just sent you two to find my traitorous brother," Azula sighed, "Honestly, how long have we been looking?"

"A very long time," Mai glared, "I might help if you… I don't know… helped?"

"I'm trying to help!" Azula snapped. Almost two months of living in the shadows, avoiding truancy officers, foraging for food, it would get to anyone, much less a Fire Nation princess. And now Mai was trying to call the shots? It was too much.

"By reading that book over and over again?" Mai asked incredulously.

"I can't help it!" Azula hugged her (stolen) copy of Twilight, "I'm in love with Edward!" Ty Lee and Mai stared in mild stupefaction.

"Give me the book," Mai instructed, "Don't worry, I won't throw it out. I'll give it back to you once we're home."

"How do we get home anyway?" Ty Lee asked as Azula grudgingly handed the book to Mai.

"Same way we got here," Azula answered, "Only much quicker. Here, you can get to the Spirit World just by thinking about it too hard. You can even bring along friends."

"Friends?!" Ty Lee bubbled, "Oh, I can't wait!"

"That isn't what she means," Mai groaned. Even through all this, Ty Lee was just as perky as usual.

"Don't worry," Azula said more to Mai than Ty Lee, "I have a plan…"

* * *

A week until homecoming… That only meant one thing.

"Circle your choices for homecoming lord and lady on the paper I'm handing out now," Ms. Kowalski walked around the room.

Milo read the names on the ballot… He didn't know any of these people. He folded the paper in half and turned it in without voting. As if it mattered anyway.

Fred didn't even look at the candidates. She crumpled up the ballot and stuffed it into the far reaches of her backpack, from which there was no return.

Up on the third floor, Zuko was staring at the ballot for homecoming prince and princess. After all the fuss Christie made, he wasn't a bit surprised to see the name "Daniel Hatake" on the list. His only competitor was a guy named Bob. Zuko circled Bob's name. Bob actually wanted to be homecoming prince, while Zuko really really REALLY wanted to avoid being the prince of anything.

Funny how elections for homecoming court are a bigger deal than elections for class president.

* * *

Milo glanced at the calendar. It was the night of the homecoming dance. He felt terrible. Would Fred have said yes? Would she have turned him down? It didn't matter, not now. Milo turned off the television in his room.

"I'm going for a walk," he called out, "I'll be back soon."

* * *

Fred barely felt the sidewalk beneath her as she ran. She wasn't going anywhere in particular, she just needed to think. She had something on her mind, but she couldn't figure out what it was. And the extra track practice couldn't hurt either.

As she ran past a playground, she saw something she didn't expect to see, at least not tonight: Daniel sitting on the merry-go-round, staring at the mulch beneath his feet. She ran over to him.

"Hey, Daniel!" she said, "Aren't you supposed to be at the dance?"

"Nothing they can do if a candidate forgets to buy a ticket," Daniel shrugged, "And you're skipping out on a major occasion to flirt with guys, do ridiculous dances, and wear a pretty dress… Why am I not surprised?"

Fred laughed. Daniel was usually serious, but he could be funny when he wanted to be. "Well, I should keep going," Fred started to run again, "Bye!"

* * *

"That one," Azula pointed to the lone teenager who seemed to be wandering aimlessly down the street, "Let's try that one."

"If you say so," Mai readied a dagger.

* * *

Fred felt the wind through her hair as she continued her run. But she got the feeling that something, SOMETHING was wrong… She stopped in her tracks.

Within a minute, she was pinned to a tree with a knife at her throat.

* * *

"And now," the DJ at homecoming announced, "Your winners for homecoming prince and princess! First, your homecoming princess is… Lauren Allenhart!"

Everyone clapped as Lauren skipped to the stage to receive her cheesy, fake-looking tiara.

"And your winner for homecoming prince, by a landslide is…" the DJ continued, "Daniel Hatake!" Nobody came to the stage as almost every girl in the room swooned, much to the chagrin of their dates. "Daniel Hatake!" the DJ repeated. Awkward silence reigned supreme as Daniel still did not appear.

"Daniel Hatake?" the DJ repeated one last time. Never in the history of Blaceenth High had a homecoming court member not appeared… Now what?

* * *

"Let go!" Fred shouted at the man who was holding her, "Let go before I-"

"I ain't lettin' go 'til you fork over whatever's in your pockets!" the man bellowed, "Now c'mon, I don't got all day!"

Now Fred deeply, deeply didn't want to disappoint this kind, generous, respectable member of the community, but she didn't have any money with her. And this dude seemed to mean business. She would need a miracle to get out of this one and what wee the chances of that? But at that very moment, a miracle was walking around the street corner.

"Now fork it over!" the man yelled, "NOW! OR I'LL-"

"You'll what?" Daniel cut him off. This thug couldn't be for real, could he? Just pinning random people to trees to make a few bucks? It made him sick. But had Zuko really been any better as the Blue Spirit? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, Daniel was mad. He began to lose control.

"Let go of her!" A few sparks flew as he stomped his foot. The thief stood wide-eyed with awe. Some leaves by Daniel's foot caught fire and the temperature seemed to rise ten degrees. "I said let go of her! NOW!" Without even thinking, he took a stance and let loose a few fireballs. The thief finally got the point, let go of Fred, and ran for it. Fred sat, staring at Daniel, dumbfounded.

"Did you see any of that?" he realized what he had done. Fred nodded slowly. He was in deep trouble now. He took a deep breath. "How good are you at keeping secrets?" he asked.

* * *

"I'm looking for my brother," Azula held a blue flame in front of her captive's face, "I'm sure you'd recognize him: black hair, amber eyes, big scar over his right eye? I know you know him. I can see it in your face."

"Wow Victoria!" Ty Lee squealed, "You're really good at this!"

"Thanks Tyler," Azula smirked, "Now, you boy, tell me where to find my brother!"

"A-A-Azula!" a stunned Milo gaped, "I knew it! I knew Daniel was really Prince Zuko!"

"Hmm… Daniel? Is that the name he's chosen?" Azula exulted in her triumph, "You do know him. And, somehow, you know me… So where is Zuzu anyway?"

"I'll never tell you!" Milo was really thinking of Fred. If Azula caught Daniel or Zuko or whoever he really was, Fred could get hurt. He would have run away, but his sleeve was stuck to a tree by one of Mai's daggers.

"Really?" Azula moved the flame even closer to Milo, "Are you sure about that?"

Milo's courage took a backseat to his cowardice. "School!" he blurted out, "He goes to my school!" He cursed himself as he realized what he had done.

"Thank you," Azula smiled evilly.

Azula took the fire away from Milo and Mai pulled her dagger loose from the tree. Milo gave a relieved sigh. Unfortunately, it was a bit early for that. Ty Lee struck some of his chi points. Milo staggered a bit before he fell.

"How long will he be out?" Azula turned to Ty Lee.

"Oh, only about ten minutes," Ty Lee enthused, "After that, he should have just enough energy to get home. Then, he'll be sick for a few days."

"Good. He won't be able to warn Zuzu then," Azula walked away to leave her unwilling helper to his fate. Ty Lee followed immediately, but Mai lingered for a moment. Was she really going to go through with this? She took a deep breath and followed the other two.


	10. Outsiders

**Author's Note**: Sorry I didn't get this up earlier. I'm just being a slacker. And the chapter is entirely about the unnamed guy from the last paragraph of "Crossing Over." Hooray for filler chapters!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Avatar… And I actually don't own Sapphire either. She was created by another fan fiction writer on the other site that this story was originally posted on and requested that I add her to the story.

* * *

He walked through the streets of the occupied town. He could have, would have helped these people at one point in time, but now it would be one guy against an entire army. And even he wasn't that crazy.

Lost in his musings, he ran right into a girl with long black hair parted down the middle.

"Oh, sorry, I-I wasn't looking," the girl apologized.

"No, it was my fault," he shook his head. He kept walking.

"Hey, my name's Sapphire," the girl followed him, "What's yours?"

"It's not important," he shrugged. Even if it was important, he didn't trust the Fire Nation and anyone could be Fire Nation here.

"You're trying to get away from them too, like me, aren't you?" Sapphire whispered. He nodded stiffly. "Then we may as well stick together," she continued, "I know how we could get food. It'll be easy, piece of cake. See that food stand over there?" she pointed, "I'll distract the guy and you can take some stuff and run. Or you could distract him, if you want."

"No thanks, I'm not hun-" his stomach growled loudly, "-gry…? You can distract him."

"Hello my good sir," Sapphire bowed to the merchant in the traditional Fire Nation way (he cringed a bit as he started gathering some ocean kumquats), "I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"What about?" the irritable merchant raised an eyebrow.

"Your… um… fine sea slugs!" Sapphire improvised, directing the merchant's attention to anything but her accomplice, "Where did you get them?"

"Trade secret," the merchant growled, "Anything else?"

He picked up some meat. Sapphire was a good distraction. At one point, she might have made a good-

"Hey you!" a Fire Nation soldier shouted, interrupting his thoughts, "Are you stealing that melon?" Oh, shoot, he knew he shouldn't have taken the melon! It was way too big! The merchant turned to him for a few seconds, and then looked back at Sapphire furiously.

"Run!" Sapphire stated the slightly obvious.

They dashed through the streets, leaving a wake of destruction in their path. He kicked over a trash can, Sapphire stepped on the tail of a pygmy puma, and a group of Fire Nation soldiers knocked a small cabbage stand to the ground.

"My cabbages!!" the Cabbage Merchant wailed.

"Piece of cake, huh?" he gave Sapphire a dirty look, which suddenly grew dirtier as they ran into a dead end. "Now what?" he asked. He had decided against making any new plans or schemes awhile ago.

"We fight fire with fire," Sapphire grinned, speaking quite literally. She got into her stance.

"Give it up!" a Fire Nation soldier commanded, "You're surrounded!"

"Not for long," Sapphire mumbled. She threw a kick into the space in front of her and an inferno flew toward the unsuspecting soldiers.

He took an involuntary step back. In that fire, he saw the village where he had grown up burning to the ground. He turned away. The memories were too painful.

"Come ON!" Sapphire grabbed him by the hand and pulled him through the crowd, "We need to get going!" He followed, too stunned to protest.

* * *

"Well, that was a full day," Sapphire yawned and stretched that night, "Good night."

He watched her sleep for awhile. She wasn't bad, but she was Fire Nation. He couldn't overlook that. It was easy for him to remind himself now, though; she wasn't the girl from his now-recurring nightmare. But during that dream…

"I hate the Fire Nation," he whispered to himself, "I hate them, I hate them, I hate them." He had to leave Sapphire behind.

He drew his swords and scratched out a message in the dirt.

"I have to leave. There's nothing I can do about it. It's nothing personal. Sorry."

He wrote his name and the name of the organization he had once proudly led. Then he put his swords away, gathered his things, took half of the day's spoils, and left.


	11. Oh No! Not Again! Said the Petunias

**Author's Note**: Hooray! Back to Fred, Zuko, Milo, Azula, Mai, and everyone else!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Avatar, or _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_, which was the inspiration for the chapter title, or _Star Trek_.

* * *

Fred waited on the corner for Daniel and Uncle Hiro… or Zuko and Uncle Iroh. Daniel had told her everything. Or Zuko had told her everything. Needless to say, it was a little confusing. She wasn't sure if she believed him, but she didn't see any other way to explain all those things: his aversion to being homecoming prince, the leaves catching fire, the nervous looks he exchanged with his uncle during Milo's babbling spell… It even explained Milo's babbling spell. Daniel had mentioned someone called the Avatar, and there was a TV show called "Avatar," wasn't there? And wasn't there some character named Zuko?

The car pulled up to the corner and Fred got in, prepared for yet another Monday.

"Hi… um… What should I call you now?" Fred asked.

"You should probably pretend that nothing is different," Uncle Iroh answered.

"Right," Fred said, "Um… Uncle Hiro? I… I think I should apologize to Milo. He actually had a legitimate reason for babbling on the first day of school and, well, I thought he was just being weird. But if I apologize, I'll have to tell him about your secret, won't I? Is it… okay?"

"Hmm… He does seem to know a little bit already," Iroh considered, "But the less people who actually know, the better… We have time to think about it. Milo is home sick today. He came home Saturday night, half-delirious with a high fever. His mother said he was muttering about a character from Star Trek nonstop." Uncle Iroh shook his head.

"That's strange…" Fred said, "Not the muttering about Star Trek, the coming home on a Saturday night. Milo is usually holed up in his room watching television on Saturdays…"

"Uncle," Zuko said quickly, "You've watched Star Trek before, haven't you? Name some of the characters."

"Captain Kirk and Spock," Iroh began, "And Scottie and Sulu and-"

"Wait!" Zuko stopped him, "Sulu… could he have been saying Sula? Or maybe…"

"Azula…" they both finished.

"Azula?" Fred said, "Isn't that your sister's name? Why would he…" She figured it out on her own. Milo had seen Azula. He wasn't sick; he had been attacked by that Ty Lee girl Daniel had mentioned. And Milo had even tried to warn Zuko and Iroh.

"I really do owe him an apology," Fred muttered, "For everything I've EVER done wrong to him… and considering that we've been friends since preschool, that could be a lot…"

"Be careful Fred," Zuko began to stare out the window, "Azula is ruthless. And there's no reason for you to get hurt."

"Right…" Fred nodded, still thinking about Milo. Sometimes, he could really be something else.

* * *

Zuko sat down at his usual empty table in the corner for lunch, prepared to meditate on what he should when (not if) Azula struck. He was _prepared_ to, but he was immediately distracted by the sudden cold, wet sensation on the seat of his pants. Why didn't he look before he sat? All he could do now was throw out the broken plastic orange juice bag and wonder how they put the orange juice into the bag in the first place.

"Serves you right," a brooding aggravated Christie huffed as she approached, "I don't believe you! Why weren't you at homecoming?!"

"I… didn't want to go?" Zuko felt slightly confused. Hadn't that been obvious?

"Because of you, THERE WAS NO HOMECOMING PRINCE!" Zuko could feel the venom in Christie voice, "Never EVER in the entire HISTORY of Blaceenth High School has there NOT BEEN A HOMECOMING PRINCE!"

"What about Bob?" Zuko dared to ask.

"Only the one ELECTED homecoming prince can take the crown!" Christie practically exploded, "I HATE YOU, DANIEL HATAKE! I HATE YOU!"

Zuko felt a foul-smelling, once-tasty liquid drip from his hair as Christie emptied the contents of her chocolate milk carton on his head. After she stormed away, he checked the date on the discarded carton. It had expired a week ago. Strangely, Zuko thought he might like this side of Christie a little better.

* * *

"What happened to you?" Fred asked as Zuko trudged into Study Hall. He looked like a total mess, and he didn't smell so great either…

"I'd rather not talk about it," Zuko said in a voice that made Fred think that she'd rather not hear about it.

"I-I should probably sit somewhere else," Zuko stood up in almost the very second he sat down, "I come to this room and sit in this seat at this time almost every day. Az… You-know-who would have no problem finding me here. Then you could get hurt."

"Sit," Fred yanked him into his seat, "Right here, next to me. We're friends and I don't care if I get hurt."

"Well I care if you get hurt," Zuko frowned, "And friends don't sit next to friends if their friends could pay for it."

"Friends support each other," Fred wouldn't let him leave, "Besides, I'm sure I can be just as annoying as those fangirls…" And the argument was won.

* * *

"We have one shot at this," Azula said as she stood before the doors of Blaceenth High School, "We need to do this perfectly. Are you ready?"

"You betcha!" Ty Lee beamed.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Mai nodded, not quite sure how this was going to work.

The three walked into the school, completely undetected. They wandered about until they found what they had been looking for- the Student Affairs Office. They slipped inside.

"Shouldn't someone be in here?" Mai looked around at the empty room.

"We just need to find someone named Daniel," Azula ignored Mai.

"Hey, look at the pretty colors!" Ty Lee pointed to a weird box that was sitting on a desk and emitting strange lights, "I wonder what it's for…" She touched the odd object lying beside the box. "OH!" she exclaimed, "The little white arrow moved!"

"Little white arrow?" Azula raised an eyebrow and pushed Ty Lee out of the way, "Yes, I see. I wonder what happens when…" She clicked the computer's mouse while the arrow was on top of the word "File." Azula grinned as she clicked "Open-Student Roster '07-'08-Search-Name-Daniel." The grin quickly faded as she read "Twenty matches found."

"Get me some paper and something to write with," Azula commanded. Ty Lee happily obliged. Azula wrote down the name of every Daniel in the school, all twenty. Then, she looked at the roster from the previous year. Nineteen Daniels. She crossed the names off her list and rechecked the first roster.

"Daniel Hatake," Azula read aloud, "Period Four Study Hall in Room 235 with Ms. Flauna. Let's go."

* * *

Boring Study Hall, boring, boring, boring. At least Fred thought so. Zuko couldn't stop worrying about Azula. What would he do when-

The door flew open and in walked three teenage girls. Zuko tensed up.

"Wake up!" Zuko shook the sleeping Fred, "Wake up, now!"

"Just five more minutes," Fred mumbled before she fully realized what was going on. She bolted upright.

"Do you girls have a pass?" Ms. Flauna asked.

"This is my pass!" Azula hit the whiteboard with a blue fireball. Ms. Flauna screamed and fainted. "Come on, Zuzu," Azula sighed, "There's no sense in fighting me. You'll lose."

"You think so?" Zuko wasn't about to go quietly.

"I know so," Azula stepped closer. Zuko jumped out of his chair and threw some fire at Azula. It flew past her.

"You missed," Azula laughed, "I'm only a few feet away from you and you mi-" She froze as she realized that Zuko hadn't been trying to hit her.

"EEK!" Ty Lee shrieked as she and Mai jumped out of the doorway. Zuko shoved a distracted Azula to the ground and ran out of the room. He dashed right past Mai (who did nothing to stop him) and poor Ty Lee, who kept slipping in a puddle by the water fountain. Zuko had sprinted around the corner before he noticed that Fred was following him.

"Fred," Zuko grimaced, "Go back. Azula will shoot lightning at you."

"A little late for that," Fred groaned, dodging a lightning bolt.

Mai rounded the corner and threw a dagger at Zuko, missing her mark by a long shot. That was odd. When she missed, it usually wasn't by that much. She shrugged and grabbed Azula by the shoulder as she ran by.

"I'll cut them off at the bottom of the stairs," Mai whispered.

"Good plan," Azula whispered back before running off again.

Mai darted down the stairs and across the hall, arriving shortly after Zuko and Fred. She drew another dagger, knowing she only had a moment to make her final decision. She took aim and tossed the knife.

* * *

Azula and Ty Lee raced down the stairs. About halfway down, Azula suddenly stopped. A sea of sharp, shattered glass sat at the bottom.

"How did this happen…?" Azula mumbled, puzzled by this inconvenience. Then, she saw the answer. A very singular-looking dagger lying in the middle of it all.

* * *

Mai almost felt like smiling. She actually felt good about throwing the dagger at that purposeless window that hung above the doors to the stairwell. She had done something to slow Azula down a bit. There was only one thing left to take care of…

"Zuko!" she called, "Wait!" Zuko kept going. "Look, I know you have absolutely no reason to trust me," Mai continued anyway, "But I'm telling the truth! And I know the way home!" Zuko stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?" Zuko asked.

"Home," Mai repeated, "Face it. You aren't safe here and neither is your friend, not anymore. Going back home is the only way you can stand a chance of escaping Azula. And-"

"And come on!" Zuko started running again, "I heard the glass break, but Azula will get around that soon. And she'll be after you too."

"Right," Mai nodded. How could Zuko accept her so quickly? Was he that desperate for an ally? Was it a trap? Did he still like her? Despite all the questions swirling in her mind, she followed Fred and Zuko to the school parking lot and beyond, down the streets all the way to a coffee shop halfway across town.

"Uncle!" Zuko shouted as he ran in, "You have to come! Quick!"

The patrons of the coffeehouse gawked at the crazy, disruptive teenager for a moment before returning to whatever it was that they were doing before. Uncle Iroh sighed before asking, "Shouldn't you be in school, my nephew?"

"Something came up," Zuko nodded toward Mai and then, noticing Uncle Iroh's surprise, added, "Don't worry, she's on our side… You are on our side, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Mai nodded, "Look, Azula's here. We've lost her for know, but she'll be back on our tails soon. I know the way home, but we need to get going."

"Right," Uncle Iroh took his apron off, "First, I need to get a few things from the apartment." He put the apron on the counter and walked out the door, never to be seen in that coffee shop ever again.

Uncle Iroh drove faster than ever before. Mai felt like she was going to be sick.

"I just need to get some of our old clothes," Uncle Iroh got out of the car, "I'll be right back."

Awkward silence reigned yet again.

"Zuko," Mai started the conversation.

"Mai," Zuko said. An awkward pause.

"We need to talk," they said simultaneously.

"You know I used to like you," Mai paused, "A lot… Even back when we were kids."

"So did I," Zuko admitted.

"And after what happened on Ember Island," Mai hesitated, unsure whether or not to continue, "Well… I liked you even more. I even… well I thought… Oh, I'm no good at this! I'm not used to talking about feelings!"

"I know what you mean, Mai," Zuko nodded, "I used to feel that way too. But when I crossed over…"

"You saw someone else too?" Mai asked, "Then I guess… Look, Zuko, you're a great guy-"

"We can still be friends," Zuko smiled sadly.

"Right," Mai cracked a rare smile. She needed some new friends. Azula and Ty Lee probably weren't about to take her back.

* * *

Milo dragged himself out of bed. Head pounding, he left the safety of his bedroom. He trudged down the stairs and out the door, only partially aware of his own actions.

* * *

"All right, Azula taught me how to do this," Mai explained as she carved a large circle into the ground with a dagger, "We don't need to worry about the Spirit World on our way back. Just think about home as hard as you can and as long as we're all sitting in the circle, we'll be there in no time.

"And as long as Fred is in the circle, she'll be transported with us. I really can't think of any other way to protect her from Azula."

"Are you ready to go, Fred?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah," she gulped.

* * *

Milo staggered about. He had no clue where he was. He thought he saw Fred in the distance, but he could barely see, even with his glasses on.

"Fred?" he tried to call out, but he could barely make a sound. He walked closer. No one heard him coming. He stepped into the dirt circle just as Fred, Zuko, Mai, and Iroh crossed over into the magical realm of the Avatar.

* * *

He sat under a tree. This was the forest, his comfort zone. He could rest here for awhile. Then, it happened. He felt a horrible tingling running throughout his entire body, accompanied by visions of a face. It was her face. He took a few deep breaths and tried to regain control of himself. He had to get a grip. The nightmares were more than enough, but now, when he was awake too? Besides, that girl couldn't be real… could she?

* * *

**Author's Note**: This is going to sound so random now, but how _do_ they put the orange juice into the bag anyway?


	12. Ok, We're Doomed

**Author's Note**: I just noticed, this fic no longer has much of anything to do with high school… But it _does_ have at least one chapter of gratuitous pop culture references…

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Avatar, the Pussycat Dolls song "Don't Cha" (thankfully, although under the right circumstances, it's a funny song…), the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," _Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?_, or Invader ZIM. (Yes, there's a lot of random singing in this chapter). I don't own the movie _Blades of Glory_ or the show MÄR, which aren't directly referenced here, but I drew inspiration from them.

* * *

"That was fun," Fred stood up dizzily, "Let's never do it again." The trip into the Avatar World had left everyone feeling less than chipper.

"This isn't where I left from…" Mai looked about, disoriented.

"Where is this anyway?" Zuko sat up. All he could see was sand, more sand, a little more sand, the sun glaring off the sand, almost blinding him… and then some more sand.

"Somewhere the Fire Nation has not yet bothered to conquer," Iroh smiled a bit, or perhaps he was grimacing, "The Si Wong Desert."

"This oughta be fun," Mai rolled her eyes as Zuko groaned and crashed back on the ground. Fred would have added her two bits as well, but there was something else holding her attention.

"Milo!" she crouched over the eagle spread teenage boy, "Are you all right?!"

"Hurts… all over…" Milo croaked out, "Except… never mind, hurts there too."

"How did this happen?" Fred asked the others while still looking at Milo.

"He must have stepped into the circle just as we left," Mai said, "Hard to believe, after Ty Lee did a number on him."

"At least we don't have to worry about the Fire Nation..." Fred muttered.

"We have other things to worry about," Zuko sighed, "There's a reason why the Fire Nation left this place alone… It's got one of the harshest climates in our world."

"Actually, it has _the_ harshest climate in our world," Uncle Iroh corrected, "And no landmarks to help us find our way…"

"You aren't helping, Uncle," Zuko stood up.

"So we're lost in the middle of a barren desert?" Fred groaned, "With no food or water? And Milo is sick… We're going to be stuck here forever, aren't we?"

"Not forever," Uncle Iroh pointed out, "After a day or two, we will become dehydrated, lose our ability to wander through the desert, and die painfully slow deaths. I expect Milo and I will be the first to go…"

"Nobody is going to die," Zuko picked Milo up off the ground, "If we wander- er- walk in one direction, we're bound to get out of this desert eventually."

* * *

"We're all going to die," Mai groaned, "We'll never get out. Ever."

They had been wandering the desert for hours, passing many familiar-looking sand dunes on the way. But then again, all the sand dunes looked pretty much the same, so it was difficult to judge. Fred, Zuko, Mai, and Iroh were starting to get thirsty and Milo was barely conscious, depending on Zuko for transportation.

"Where there's plants, there's water, right?" Fred said suddenly.

"Yeah, why?" Zuko looked at her. Fred pointed at a cactus in the distance, "I'm not sure how much longer Milo can hold out," she admitted.

Mai cut off part of the cactus and handed it to Fred, who held it up to Milo's mouth.

"Come on, Milo, drink a little," Fred urged. And Milo, unaware of what he was drinking, did just that.

"Quenchy…" he muttered, "Very quenchy…" Then, he started laughing as if the funniest thing ever had just happened. In all her years of knowing him, Fred had never heard Milo laugh quite that way before. "That's a funny word!" he pulled away from Zuko and hobbled off in some random direction, "Quench! Quench! Quench! Hahahahaha… that was quench-erific!" He plopped down on the ground, "Look!" he pointed at the sun, "Pretty Shiny Thing! Pretty pretty shiny shiny! So pretty and shiny! It hurts my eyes!" Milo started cackling again.

"Um… I don't think I'm quite that thirsty…" Fred gawked at Milo.

"Neither am I," Mai agreed.

"At least Milo appears to be feeling better," Iroh pointed out.

"Do you wanna be friends, Pretty Shiny Thingy?" Milo asked the sun, "I'll be your friend if you quit making my eyes go all funny!"

"Or perhaps not…" Iroh changed his mind.

"Come on, let's go," Zuko recovered from his bewilderment and dragged Milo in what he hoped was the right direction.

"Not without Pretty Shiny Thingy!" Milo shouted.

"I'm sure Pretty Shiny Thingy will follow us," Zuko scowled.

"Did you seriously just say 'Pretty Shiny Thingy'?" Mai raised an eyebrow.

"Shut it," Zuko snapped.

"You shut it," Mai said irritably, "I was just kidding around…"

"This is a really big ocean!" Milo interrupted, "Hey, Tally, why are we on a cruise?"

"Who's Tally?" Mai asked while Fred gave Milo a death glare.

"Tallulah, of course!" Milo pointed right at Fred, "Don't cha know her name? Don't cha? Hey… that reminds me of a song!" Milo then began to sing that song, which I shall omit for the sake of all.

"I don't care if I'm dying of thirst," Zuko gaped, "Don't let me drink any of that stuff."

* * *

"Thank you, Pretty Shiny Friend!" Milo waved to the moon, "You stopped hurting my eyes!"

"How much longer will he be like this?" Fred moaned.

"No idea," Mai sighed. They had stopped for the night and Milo's cactus-induced antics had gotten very old very quickly. It had gotten to the point where Zuko could no longer stand dragging Milo along and handed him off to Fred, who was forced to listen to Milo rambling on about what a pretty name Tallulah was (but not quite as pretty as Pretty Shiny Friend) and had to resist the urge to hit her friend and hit him hard.

"Hey, Zuzu!" Milo turned to Zuko, "I think you need to cut back on the eyeliner!" He started laughing hysterically again.

"I do NOT wear eyeliner!" Zuko yelled, "Now SHUT UP!!"

"Does anyone else hear something?" Iroh asked.

"I hear Milo making a fool of himself," Mai stated bluntly.

"Hey! It isn't his fault!" Fred narrowed her eyes, "That's the cactus juice talking!"

"Sure," Mai rolled her eyes, "Blame the cactus juice."

"I mean really hear something, like a low rumbling in the distance?" Iroh continued, "Something we might want to be concerned about?"

"I think Milo should be concerned," Zuko sent yet another death glare Milo's way, "If he isn't quiet soon, I'll make him be quiet."

"Don't you dare threaten him!" Fred snapped, "You mess with him, you mess with me!"

"I'm just fine with that!" Zuko shouted.

"Like a ninja!" Milo blurted out.

"Quit provoking him!" Mai turned on Zuko, "If you would just-"

"If you hadn't given him the cactus juice in the first place, we wouldn't have to deal with this!" Zuko countered.

"AAH!" Milo screamed, "THE WOODLAND FAIRIES ARE PLOTTING WORLD DOMINATION!"

"BE QUIET MILO!" Fred, Zuko and Mai shouted in unison.

Uncle Iroh was the only one prepared when the three sandbenders appeared.

"Hello, Rocking Horse People!" Milo greeted the sandbenders, "Do you have any marshmallow pies? I'm kinda hungry…"

"Rocking horse… WHAT?" two of the sandbenders their sand-sailors. Had someone actually been foolish enough to come this far into the Si Wong Desert AND drink cactus juice? The answer, apparently, was yes. The third sandbender, however, kept on coming.

"We're doomed," Fred groaned, giving Milo the grand idea to sing the Doom Song from Invader ZIM.

"Ghashiun!" one of the merciful sandbenders cried, "Come on, man! These guys have less than we do!"

"Yeah!" the other nodded in agreement, "It'll make your dad happy."

Ghashiun stopped his sand-sailor. "I guess you're right…" he stared at the ground. He turned to the party of mysterious strangers ("I'm a little teapot!" Milo sang)… well, somewhat mysterious strangers and said (focusing on Mai), "I… saw you from over there and assumed you were lost and… since we live here… Do you need someone to guide you out?"

Mai narrowed her eyes and threw a dagger at Ghashiun. He blocked it with a wall of sand. "You liar," her voice dripped with iciness, "You wanted to rob us."

"Well, I decided not to," Ghashiun huffed.

"Oh, really? Then-" Mai was prepared to threaten Ghashiun until the sun came back up.

"Conference!" Zuko intervened. Everyone huddled away from the sandbenders.

"I don't think we should trust them," Mai said bluntly.

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Zuko sighed, "Even though I've heard that sandbenders make their living by stealing."

"Just as I have heard that firebenders survive by destroying everyone else's hopes and dreams?" Iroh shot his nephew a look. He approached Ghashiun. "We would be honored to accept your kind offer," he bowed, much to Mai's chagrin.

"All right then… two of you can ride each sand-sailor," Ghashiun paused for a moment to think, "Um… who are you guys anyway?"

"My name is Lee," Zuko lied as he got onto Ghashiun's sand-sailor, "My uncle, Mushi, my sister, Sayo," he motioned toward Mai, "My cousin, Zhuo," he pointed to Fred, "And… um… our… friend, Ginta…"

"Harry the Hypnotist!?" the newly-dubbed Ginta exclaimed.

"He usually isn't like this," Fred apologized on behalf of her friend while loading him onto another sand-sailor.

"Sayo!" Zuko called to Mai, who was still on the ground, "There's room for you here!"

Mai groaned, dreading the mere thought of riding with Ghashiun, but got on anyway. Thus, they were off.

"So… your name is Sayo…" Ghashiun had the usually-bad idea to talk while driving.

"Yeah," Mai stared off into the distance.

"I'm Ghashiun," he stated.

"Yeah," she continued to ignore him, "I know."

"Oh…" Ghashiun's voice trailed off. He really wasn't very good at this. "Well… Where are you from?"

"Omashu," Mai gave the first answer that entered her mind. Zuko gave her a dirty look as he had never actually been to Omashu.

"Really?" Ghashiun feigned interest to keep the conversation going, "What's it like there?"

"Kinda boring," Mai shrugged.

"Right…" Ghashiun said, "So how did you get out here in the first place?"

"Well… Ginta found this tunnel," Mai began a made-up story, "And… we… um…"

"Had nothing better to do," Zuko took over, "So I said that we should explore the tunnel and…"

"And I couldn't let them go without supervision!" Iroh interjected.

"So we walked through the tunnel!" Fred put in her bit, "And it came out here!"

"Then there was a cave-in," Zuko continued, "Sayo and Ginta barely got out alive."

"Of course, Lee was the one who was so overjoyed to see the end of the tunnel that he jumped up and caused the cave-in in the first place," Mai was indignant to be placed on a par with Milo.

"You walked here from Omashu?" Ghashiun wasn't sure that was possible.

"Why not?" Fred huffed.

"You ask too many questions," Mai glared.

"All right…" Ghashiun was glad his face was hidden, as it was turning bright red. The rest of the ride out of the desert was taken in silence.


	13. All We See or Seem

**

* * *

**

Author's Note

: Ready to find out who that guy from Chapters 5, 10, and 11 is? Well… I think a lot of you already know, but yes! This is the chapter where I actually get to say it! And wow, I just realized, these chapters keep getting longer and longer...

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Avatar or the poem "A Dream Within a Dream" by Edgar Allan Poe… I love that poem…

"So I seriously said that?!" Milo asked for the millionth time.

"And it annoyed the heck out of the rest of us," Mai confirmed, also for the millionth time.

Milo groaned as he walked behind the rest of the group through the sparse forest. Being inside of a television-show-like-place was amazingly awesome… But there was so much walking involved… And what he wouldn't give for a sky bison…

"So what else did I miss?" he sighed, determined to see what he could of the Avatar World while he was there.

"A sandbender flirting with Mai," Zuko shrugged, "And badly."

"And if he knows what's good for him, he'll never do it again," Mai muttered under her breath.

"I missed that?!" Milo blurted out before he noticed that Mai was giving him a death glare, "Um… so where are we going?"

"North," Iroh answered, "The northern parts of the Earth Kingdom are more heavily forested, making it easier to hide and find food. There is already a change in scenery…"

* * *

He stretched and yawned as he awoke from his nap. He hadn't, for once, had that nightmare. Maybe he was getting over some psychological issue he never knew he had…

He froze as he heard voices approaching. One of the voices was that of an older man and another belonged to a teenage boy… There were others, but those two sounded familiar… A little too familiar. He looked from behind the tree and couldn't believe his eyes.

* * *

"My feet hurt," Mai complained, "Let's take a quick break." Then, without waiting for a response, she sauntered over to a tree, planning on sitting down.

* * *

He had to think this through quickly. That Fire Nation girl was getting close… What would she do when she discovered him? Could she firebend? Did his hair look okay?... Wait, there was a potentially, no probably dangerous Fire Nation citizen walking toward him and he was worried about how his hair looked? He almost gave an audible groan.

He couldn't let her get too close… so he did what was (arguably) the dumbest thing possible. He stood, showed himself to the group, pointed an accusing finger at Zuko and Iroh and shouted, "Firebenders!"

* * *

There was a short awkward pause. Mai stared at the stranger… He looked exactly like that boy she had seen in that dream she had before crossing over… And he was purposely avoiding her gaze.

"I told you the last time we met," Zuko glared, "We aren't firebenders."

"Oh, come on!" the stranger rolled his eyes, "I saw the old man doing it. And there's no one else around… just admit it." Zuko made no response.

"I know the truth!" the boy grew angry, "Now get out of here you Fire Nation scum!"

"Make me," Zuko stepped forward.

Milo stood gaping at the stranger. Another Avatar character, standing right in front of him… Incredible… Especially since it was one of the characters he thought might be… well… not alive… Fred promptly poked him back to reality.

Mai, however, had no such friend standing next to her. She shook her head and tried to think objectively.

* * *

He drew his swords and charged at Zuko, who stood undaunted. However, he stopped in his tracks as the girl stepped in front of him.

* * *

_So much for thinking objectively,_ Mai thought.

"Don't worry," she said aloud to Zuko, "You guys go on ahead. I'll take care of this guy."

"But-" Zuko tried to interject.

"I said, don't worry," Mai repeated, "I'll catch up."

"You sure?" Zuko was slightly reluctant to leave one of his few friends behind. If he remembered correctly, this guy was pretty good with swords…

"Positive," Mai smirked, "Just go."

Zuko sighed and walked behind Mai, past the boy, with Iroh, Fred, and Milo following. The stranger made a dash after them, but gave up on that when he had a knife to his throat.

"Stupid Fire Nation…" he muttered, "You are Fire Nation, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Mai backed up a bit, "I take it you're from the Earth Kingdom?" He answered by swinging one of his swords at her. "Is that a yes?" she dodged it easily.

"The Fire Nation took everything from me…" he sighed, "And you're all the same…"

"No, we aren't," Mai narrowed her eyes, "It's Firelord Ozai's war, and we're not all loyal to him. Zuko and his uncle aren't. And neither am I. Not anymore."

"Zuko, huh?" he smirked, "So Lee was a fake name… I figured that was the case… I mean, honestly, who would name their kid Mushi?"

"I bet you fell for it," Mai drew another dagger.

Steel clanged against steel as Mai threw her dagger and her opponent blocked it with his swords.

"So, what's your name?" he asked, preparing for another clash.

"Mai," she answered truthfully, ready for whatever he threw at her, "And yours?"

"Jet," he rushed forward.

"So Mai," Jet began to talk casually as she pushed him back, "Tell me about yourself."

"Are you always this chatty?" Mai groaned, "Oh well, at least it makes this fight a little less boring…" Mai threw another knife, which he sidestepped. "I grew up in the Fire Nation Capital. I went to Fire Academy. I was best friends with Princess Azula and another girl named Ty Lee. I had a crush on Prince Zuko. I grew up, my parents had another kid, moved us to Omashu or New Ozai or whatever, I left to help Azula capture Zuko and his uncle, we conquered Ba Sing Se… My life in a nutshell… And it was boring."

"How did you end up here?" Jet charged.

"Long story, you probably wouldn't believe me anyway," Mai ducked under his swords and took the opportunity to knock one out of his hands. Jet grimaced. He was used to fighting with two swords.

"So Jet," Mai continued, "What about you? What do you do?" She tried to sound apathetic, but she was actually curious.

"I don't do much of anything any more," Jet sighed, but began to smirk as he began to think about some of his past exploits, "I used to lead a rebel organization called the Freedom Fighters. Maybe you've heard of them?"

"Hm… I'm not sure…" Mai pretended to think, "Oh wait! You mean those crazy kids who live in trees and flooded Gaipan? Yeah, I've heard of the Freedom Fighters."

Jet swung his sword in rage, but Mai stepped back gracefully. "Sorry," she hung her head, "This might have something to do with why I don't have many friends."

"It might?" Jet let out a scornful laugh. He stopped himself, "I'm sorry too… It's just… I don't have many friends either. I used to be… misguided. You've heard about Gaipan. That was all me. A lot of people lost faith in me after that. Not that I blame them… And the others (he thought of Smellerbee and Long Shot)… I told them to go, after… something else happened. I just needed time on my own to think. You conquered Ba Sing Se... Is Long Feng out of the picture?" Mai nodded. "Good news for me. He was almost as bad as the Fire Nation… Maybe worse…"

"So what's with you and the Fire Nation?" Mai asked. The two were slowing down a little, more interested in talking than fighting at this point.

"They burned down my village…" Jet wished he could hide the pained expression on his face, "M-my parents died… I was eight…"

"Oh… I'm… sorry to here that…" Mai couldn't think of anything else to say.

"There's nothing you can do about it," he shook his head. Mai was silent.

Jet couldn't believe it. This Fire Nation girl stood for everything he hated, but he didn't exactly hate her… And she seemed to sympathize with him. This was just too weird. He decided that he had to end it. The battle started up again.

* * *

"Shouldn't she have come back by now?" Zuko asked no one in particular. The sun was setting and the group was setting up camp.

"I'm sure Mai will be fine," Fred tried to reassure him, "She'll probably be here tomorrow morning when we wake up."

"Right…" Zuko still wasn't fully convinced. He stood, "Uncle, I need to talk to you about something."

"What?" Iroh asked.

"Um… I meant in private," Zuko nodded toward Fred and Milo.

"Oh!" it dawned on Iroh. He and Zuko stepped aside.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Fred wondered out loud.

"Shippings?" Milo guessed.

"What?"

"… Never mind."

* * *

"Uncle, do you think Mai looked… surprised when she saw that Jet guy?" Zuko asked, "Like maybe she had seen him before?"

"Possibly," Iroh agreed.

"And… is it… normal to… see someone when you're crossing over?" Zuko stumbled over the ridiculous-sounding words, "Mai said something about it and it happened to me too..."

"Ah! So who's the lucky lady?" Iroh took a sudden interest.

"What?!" Zuko turned a little red.

"Word has it," Iroh explained, "That before certain people cross over, they have a vision of the one they are destined to marry… So have I met her?"

"Marry?!" Zuko was taken aback. He had figured it had something to do with that, but that word was a little scary… Marry?!

"I need to go think," Zuko muttered and ran off.

* * *

Jet awoke groggily, aching all over. The sun was rising; he must have been out for a while. He looked at Mai lying next to him. She was beautiful… in an evil, Fire Nation sort of way. But she looked like she was in pretty bad shape. That must have been ooone fight.  
He took her pulse. He began to grow panicked as he couldn't find it. She looked like she was alive, but... There was only one thing he could do... the dreaded CPR. He took a deep breath.  
After a mere five seconds, Mai bolted up and shoved Jet off of her.  
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed, "Trying to kiss me when I'm unconscious..."  
"I wasn't- erg..." he protested as he turned beet red, "I was saving YOUR LIFE! Which is probably more than you deserve, you Fire Nation scum!"  
"Well next time my life needs saving, I'LL LET YOU KNOW!" she yelled.  
"FINE!" he shouted.  
"FINE!" she bellowed louder than she ever had before.  
A brief moment of silence...  
"Jet," she said quietly.  
"Yeah?" he answered in a hushed tone.  
"I... I-I think my life might need saving..."  
Then he kissed her, for real this time.

"Wait!" Mai pulled back abruptly, "Is the sun rising or setting?!"

"Rising, I think," Jet sighed. Nothing could last, could it?

"I'm sorry, Jet," Mai stared angrily at her feet, "I… have to go."

"No, you don't!" the words came out before Jet could even consider stopping them, "You could come with me! I… I'll pretend you're from the Earth Kingdom! Just don't go!"

Mai was silent for a moment. Then she had an idea. But not just an idea, an epiphany.

"I have to go," she repeated, "But no one ever said you couldn't come with me..."

"Travel with FIREBENDERS?!" Jet wanted to say, "I can't do that! I mean, can only pretend so much! Sorry, but no!"

He wanted to say that, desperately so. But all that came out was, "Sounds good to me."

"Thank you," Mai gave Jet a hug.

"You're welcome," he tried to sound sincere. But really, he was thinking, "The things I do for love…"

* * *

**Author's Note**: Jet lives!! Hooray!


	14. A Chance Meeting

**Author's Note**: Sorry, it's been a really long time since I've posted a chapter. I've been struggling with writer's block (ignoring the fact that I have about seven chapters pre-written) and preparing for final exams (yes, I actually studied this once…). So, without further ado, Chapter 14!

**Disclaimer**: No, in all this time I haven't been updating, I haven't acquired ownership of Avatar. Please stop rubbing it in.

* * *

"It's not like there was anything else we could do about it," Azula sat pouting near the outskirts of a small Earth Kingdom town, "We just need to start over now."

"I miss Mai…" Ty Lee frowned.

"Well that's too bad," Azula could still taste the bitterness of defeat, "Mai is a traitor and a disgrace to the Fire Nation. She's made her choice and for that she will pay dearly..."

Ty Lee was silent for a few minutes. "Hey Azula?" she decided it would be best to change the subject entirely, "Do you still have that book? Y'know, the one about the vampires?"

"You mean Twilight?" Azula raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, why?"

"Well, I wanna read it," Ty Lee smiled, "And meet Edward."

"You can read?" Azula laughed at her own joke, "Here you go." She threw the book to Ty Lee.

"So what now?" Ty Lee sat next to her friend.

"We start by heading back home," Azula sighed, "We should get wanted posters for Mai out as soon as possible. Then we start looking agai-"

Azula was interrupted when a huge, wolf-like creature with tentacles for a nose ran toward her and, using its tongue like a whip, knocked her down.

"I can't move!" she exclaimed.

"My shirshu seems to think you smell familiar," a new voice said, "And it's not a smell it's particularly fond of."

The owner of the voice (and the shirshu) was a girl of about seventeen with pale skin and long, black hair covering half of her face.

"Now that I think about it, you do resemble a former client of mine," she frowned, "It was a miracle that I found my shirshu again after dealing with him…"

"I like her!" Ty Lee beamed.

"You like everyone, Ty Lee," Azula sighed in disgust. "And you," she turned her attention to the newcomer, "Who are you?" No response. "I said, who are you?! Do you not realize who I am?! I'm Princess Azula of the Fire Nation!"

"A Fire Nation princess?" the other girl's interest was suddenly piqued, "I thought you looked familiar… You have a brother, don't you? Tall, dark-haired, scar over his right eye, no sense of humor?"

"So you've met Zuzu?" Azula said, "That's interesting… But it doesn't answer my question. Who are you?"

"My name is Jun," the girl finally answered, "I'm a bounty hunter. And your brother failed to pay me for tracking down his little girlfriend."

Azula pondered for a moment before saying, "How would you like to get even with my brother? My friend and I are looking for him and I suppose we could use some help."

"I don't work for free," Jun shook her head.

"I am a princess; I'm sure I can work out some form of payment," Azula sniffed, "Do we have a deal?"

"I suppose so," Jun smirked, "I would shake on it, but…

"How long until I can move again?" Azula asked.

"At least an hour," Jun shrugged, "You may as well get comfortable."

The princess groaned.


	15. Peace, Harmony, and All That Other Crap

**Author's Note**: I'm sorry I'm a little lazy. But for the record, I'm almost done writing this story and this is probably my favorite chapter…

**In case you were reading my review and are wondering who Jenner is**: Jenner was my screen name on another website that posted Avatar fan fiction. I left it for various reasons. Speaking of those reasons, mind2freak, I'll explain everything once I get to where I left off.

**Disclaimer**: I still own nothing…

* * *

Jet groaned. He could take Fred and Milo; they weren't Fire Nation. He could take Mai; in fact, when she was there, he could even manage to tolerate Iroh. But he didn't think he could ever stand Zuko. And to make matters worse, Mai was out looking for a river in hopes of it leading to a town, leaving him behind… with firebenders.

"Why couldn't I go with her?" he lamented.

"You're free to leave and go look for her," Zuko wasn't exactly a member of the Jet Fan Club either.

"Be quiet," Jet huffed.

"You be quiet," Zuko returned.

Fred sighed. This had been going on all morning. And yesterday too. And the day before that, when Mai had returned and surprised everyone by not only bringing Jet with her, but announcing that he was now her boyfriend. Milo had very nearly fainted.

"I hate you," Jet said casually.

"I feel the same way about you," Zuko turned away from the camp and stared off into the trees.

Iroh would have done something to stop them, but he wasn't quite sure what good it would do.

"Y'know, I have no idea what Mai saw in you," Jet shrugged.

"What a coincidence," Zuko didn't turn around, "I have the same problem."

Their passionless banter was interrupted when Mai returned to the camp. She was panting a little.

"Did you find anything?" Jet asked.

"Yeah, there's a river not too far from here," she nodded.

"What is it?" Zuko noticed the slight glimmer of fear in her eyes.

"People are coming," Mai glanced over her shoulder, "Three, I think. I didn't get a good look, but I think they saw me."

Fred and Jet scrambled to their feet and Milo (who had, in true teenager fashion, slept through everything up until this point) awoke with a start. Faint music reached their ears. As it grew louder, Jet drew his swords, Zuko and Iroh got into firebending stances, and Mai reached for a dagger. The music grew closer and closer and closer…

Three figures emerged from the forest.

"Hey, Forest People!" the wildly-dressed man holding the guitar greeted them.

"Hello…" Fred faltered. She moved closer to Milo and whispered, "Who are these guys?"

"Nomadic hippies…" he gaped.

"Hey! We're nomads!" the leader said cheerfully, "My name is Chong. This is my wife, Lily," he gestured toward the woman with the flute, and then to the man with the drum, "And this is Moku."

"We're searching for a waterfall where the colors make an everlasting rainbow!" Moku chimed in, "Have you seen it?"

"Um…" Jet sheathed his swords, "No… I can't say that I have…"

"I must say," Iroh said, "You are quite accomplished musicians."

"Thank you," Chong strummed a few random notes, "We spread peace and love with our music."

"We could use some of that around here," Fred shot Zuko and Jet a look.

"Some of what?" Chong asked.

"Um… peace and love," Fred was slightly bewildered.

"Hey! We spread peace and love with our music!" Chong beamed.

"Great," Fred smiled weakly. "Are they always like this?" she whispered to Milo. He nodded.

"You should let some color into your life," Lily smiled at Mai, "Enjoy the path you walk with a smile on your face and a song in your heart."

Mai hid behind Jet, fully prepared to use him as a human shield. He merely nodded in sympathy.

"Young love is so beautiful," Lily sighed contentedly.

"That reminds me of a song," Chong said and the three began to play, "Two lovers, forbidden from one another-"

"Could you not sing?" Zuko interrupted, "And shouldn't you get going again? Finding an everlasting rainbow could take a long time."

"It isn't about the destination," Lily spouted some profound wisdom, "It's about getting there."

"You walked right into that one," Jet commented.

"Shut up," Zuko turned to him.

"I think they don't get along," Chong actually noticed something for once, "Maybe they could use our help!"

"No, I- Wait…" Fred pondered, "That's actually a halfway decent idea." Mai, still behind Jet, smiled evilly. This was the sort of thing she normally wouldn't inflict upon her worst enemy, but it was probably the only almost-humane way to force Jet and Zuko to get along.

"It would be an honor," Iroh bowed.

"Let's get started!" Chong joined the two boys' hands together.

"What have I done?" Fred murmured.

* * *

"For future reference, I am NOT holding hands with him," Jet glared at Chong and pointed at Zuko. The nomads had taken them a short distance away from the others to aid the process.

"Why not?" Moku was puzzled, "It's a beautiful sign of friendship!"

"Because we aren't friends," Jet narrowed his eyes.

"But we should all be friends!" Lily began to throw flowers over Zuko, "After all, we must all travel the same path of life."

"Get those things away from me!" Zuko swatted at the flowers, "We don't like each other! Just deal with it!"

"Deal with what?" a clueless Chong asked.

"The fact that we don't like each other," Zuko clenched his teeth.

"You don't like each other?!" Chong was shocked, "Why not?!"

"Because," Jet said matter-of-factly.

"Because why?"

"Because he's from the FIRE NATION!" Jet thought that was obvious.

"Who's from the Fire Nation?"

"Zuko."

"What about Zuko?"

"He's Fire Nation."

"Who?"

Jet wanted to bash his head into a tree. Or better yet, bash Chong's head into a tree. At the same time, Zuko was having violent thoughts. Very violent thoughts.

"This is Zuko," Jet explained in a last-ditch effort to preserve the little sanity he had left, "He is from the Fire Nation. Not only is he from the Fire Nation, he is the PRINCE of the Fire Nation. I despise the Fire Nation as I have done ever since they took everything from me when I was EIGHT! Does THAT answer your questions?"

"Look, when your village burned down, I was what? Nine?" Zuko pointed out, "I had nothing to do with it."

"The Fire Nation is the enemy," Jet shook his head.

"You don't feel that way about Mai," Zuko observed.

"That's different," Jet grumbled.

"Ohh," Chong began to sing, "Never fall in love with a traveling girl-"

"I miss the music from Fred's world," Zuko groaned.

"What were we doing again?" Chong asked. Jet gave a heavy sigh and Zuko hit his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"Leaving?" Jet proposed.

"No, no, I don't think so…" Chong shook his head.

"Neither of us is that lucky," Zuko muttered.

"It was worth a shot," Jet huffed.

"Hey! I'm sensing some hostility here!" Chong exclaimed, "Hey! I know! We'll help you two learn to get along! So, why don't you two like each other?"

"Zuko is… I don't know… FIRE NATION!?" Jet screamed.

"Well what does that have to do with anything?" Chong asked.

Both boys had some more violent thoughts. Veeeery violent thoughts. Zuko took a deep breath and asked in the most philosophical tone he could muster (although it sounded a little forced), "What DOES it have to do with anything? I mean, after all, we're all just people."

"What?" Jet raised an eyebrow. Zuko elbowed him.

"Play along," Zuko whispered, "It's not like they'll catch on."

"Oh!" Jet's expression showed only approval of Zuko's plan, "Then… I apologize, Zuko. I can clearly see now that you and most citizens of the Fire Nation had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to me. Gee, I just hope that I wasn't such a terrible person to you that we can't still be friends." It was the most un-Jet-like sack of lies that Jet could think to say and, quite possibly, the worst acting he had ever done.

"Of course we can be friends, Jet," Zuko forced a smile that could fool only the nomads, "I wouldn't have it any other way." They shook hands.

"Hooray!" Lily cheered as she threw flowers over the both of them.

"Keep smiling," Jet urged between clenched teeth, "Just keep smiling."

"I'm trying…" Zuko grunted, "I just hope I won't have to for much longer."

* * *

Zuko and Jet returned to the group, overjoyed to see people who could actually follow a conversation for two whole sentences. They parted ways with the nomads (but not before Lily attempted to crown Mai with a wreath of pink flowers). The two then promptly began to hate each other again.

"You liars," Fred laughed, "You just wanted to get rid of the hippies."

"I'm not saying you're right," Jet shrugged, "But I'm also not saying you're wrong."

"I guess I really can't blame you," Mai sighed, "They were annoying."

"But perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from this," Iroh turned to Zuko and Jet, "The two of you may never become friends, but you are capable of acting as allies when you are united against a common enemy. These could be the first steps on a new path: a path of acceptance."

Silence. A glance exchanged between Zuko and Jet.

"Or perhaps not," Iroh sighed.


	16. Prophecy

**Author's Note**: Oh, geez, it's been, like, a week since I've updated… Oops… Well, it feels weird following up the last epic chapter with this one… And pretty soon, I'm going on vacation, so I'll be away from the computer for awhile. I'll try to finish writing this thing…

**To m2f**: Hey! Dude! What's up? It's fun to be able to say whatever the hell you want, eh? Anyway, the next chapter is the last one I posted last time. And last I checked, the final part of it is actually on the board under the newer guidelines. Funny how things work… And I sent that message to everyone who replied to the one-shot. If you feel un-special, I'm really sorry…

**Disclaimer**: Nope, don't own Avatar… And even if I did, I would still have to say that, wouldn't I?

* * *

"Follow the river! We'll find a town to stock up on supplies eventually!" Jet laughed scornfully, "Who's bright idea was that?!"

Three days of following the river Mai had found and they hadn't met anyone since those nomads. Milo was wishing for a sky bison harder than ever.

"Yours, I think," Zuko said. He was lagging behind the others, partially lost in thought, but not so much as to miss a chance to criticize Jet. Iroh and Milo walked in front of him and in front of them, Jet had his arm around Mai. It made Zuko feel…odd. He couldn't describe it any other way. He was jealous, but he wasn't sure why. He was angry, but not at Jet or Mai or even himself. He was happy, but he didn't see anything to be happy about. And then he couldn't stop thinking about that girl… Marry?! How was that even going to be possible? He sighed. Odd.

Fred walked in front of them all, worrying about things she somehow hadn't thought of until now. Was the track team doing all right? Were her parents worried? Would she be held back a year when she went home? Would she go home at all? Was it even possible to get back again? What if Azula and Ty Lee were still there? Would it be hard for them to track her family down? What if-

"Hello, travelers!" a new voice from the other riverbank broke Fred from her train of thought before it went too far.

"Hey!" Jet called, "Do you know any towns nearby?"

"Aunt Wu said I would meet travelers today and that they would be seeking her guidance!" the man seemed not to notice.

"Aunt Wu?" Milo was open-mouthed (again).

"Um… yeah… That's great…" Jet looked back and forth at Milo and the stranger, "But where's the town?"

"Follow the river a little longer," the calm man waved his question away, "You'll get to it. Have a nice day!"

"You too!" Iroh waved back, "Such a nice man…"

* * *

"Welcome to Mukapu Village," a man greeted them once they arrived, "Aunt Wu is expecting you."

"Aunt who?" Fred asked.

"AUNT WU!" Milo and all villagers within earshot shouted.

"Okay… Sorry I asked," Fred sighed, "So what does this Aunt Wu lady do? Brainwash people?" Jet automatically tensed up.

"No, that's…" Milo cast a quick glance at Jet and lowered his voice, "Somebody else. I'll tell you about it later," then, speaking normally again, "Aunt Wu reads fortunes. I don't think she's ever been completely wrong."

"Fortunes?" Fred said skeptically. The others, except for Iroh, felt more or less the same way.

"Come on! While we're here, we may as well get our palms read!" Milo insisted.

"Fine," Fred consented, "I don't see any harm in it."

"I'll go too, I guess…" Zuko huffed.

"Why not?" Jet shrugged.

"I don't…" Mai started to object, but her friends were already walking, "All right, all right, I'm coming…"

"I suppose I'll get those supplies!" Iroh said to the teenagers who were no longer there. He gave his trademark knowing smile and went to the marketplace.

* * *

"Welcome," a young girl with pigtails that seemed to defy gravity greeted them, "I'm Meng, Aunt Wu's assistant. She will see you shortly."

"No need for that Meng," a woman who looked about sixty and wore a gold kimono stepped into the room, "I have a strange feeling abut these kids… So, who wants their fortune told first?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Pick me!" Milo volunteered, "Please!"

"All right, you then," Aunt Wu took Milo into her backroom.

"So… What is your name?" she asked as he took a seat on a pillow.

"M- Ginta," Milo caught himself.

"Well then, Ginta, if I may see your palm?" He gave her his hand.

"Hmm… I see… You have experienced a great many changes recently…" Aunt Wu divined, "But you didn't come here to talk about the past, now, did you? The future… I see here a seemingly important choice to be made, but both paths lead to the same destination. I also see… romance… Do you have your eye on a girl?" Milo thought of Fred and nodded. Aunt Wu smiled, "I wouldn't worry about it." Milo grinned, filled with new confidence, thanked Aunt Wu, and left the room.

"Who's next?" Aunt Wu asked those remaining, "Come now, don't be shy."

"Fine," Mai groaned, "Let's get this over with."

"Good luck," Jet said.

"We'll see," Mai shrugged as she walked away.

* * *

"I'll need you to remove your glove," Aunt Wu insisted. Mai played with her right glove a little, as if reluctant to take it off. "The other hand," Aunt Wu prompted. Mai willingly obliged.

"I see love, a love that shall last for a long time to come… But I also see an enemy, in the shadows at present, who will do anything to take you down, anything to make you suffer, anything to destroy you… You must avoid this person at all costs; you life may depend on it… That is all I can see."

Mai put her glove back on and left the room without another word.

* * *

"Looks like I'm next," Fred gave her hand to Aunt Wu. The fortuneteller examined it closely.

"Hmm… Not very forthcoming," she remarked. Aunt Wu took out a deck of cards, shuffled them, and laid them out on the table. "That can't be right…" she furrowed her brow and put the cards away. "Let me try one last thing," Aunt Wu reached into an urn, "The bones never lie." Aunt Wu took out a bone and threw it into the fire. A few moments of silence.

With a loud snap, the bone cracked in two. The halves broke into halves, which also broke into halves, and so on and so forth until the bone was merely splinters. Then, the flame suddenly went out.

"Um…" Fred was momentarily stunned, "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

* * *

"Here," Zuko gave his palm to Aunt Wu.

"You look familiar," Aunt Wu observed as she took his hand, "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"It's… possible…" Zuko answered, unnerved. He knew his scar made him easy to recognize, but he had only met this old lady once, when he was searching for the Avatar. That certainly wasn't a comfort.

"Never mind it," Aunt Wu shook her head, "Now what do you want to know about? Love, maybe? I'm sure a handsome young man like you would want to hear about love."

"Um… sure…" Zuko grumbled. He already knew everything he needed to know about love, but that was beside the point.

"Hmm… I see a girl, a little younger than you, but not by much," Aunt Wu predicted, "Your opposite in many ways, but at the heart, the same…"

"I see…" Zuko made his best attempt to sound fascinated, "I had no idea…" Yeah, right. "Well, I've taken enough of your time. I should go now." He walked out as quickly as he could without seeming suspicious.

* * *

"Best for last?" Jet shrugged jokingly.

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Aunt Wu shrugged right back, "Now … I see much life within you. Old friends shall return to you and- OH!" Aunt Wu suddenly dropped Jet's hand, "… I… I am tired now. I must rest. Meng will show you out. Meng!"

"What?!" Jet jumped up, angered, "You can't wait, like, one more minute?!"

"No, I can't," guilt tinged Aunt Wu's voice as she stared at the ground.

"You told everyone else!" Jet insisted, "I don't believe this! What a rip-off!" He stormed out of the room, shoving Meng aside as he passed her in the hall. Meng shot him a glare and then looked to Aunt Wu. They exchanged glances and, the reasons understood, Meng turned to follow Jet.

"What happened?" Mai asked as Jet entered the room.

"She wouldn't finish telling me my fortune!" Jet fumed.

"I wonder why," Zuko muttered, but not loud enough for anyone to hear.

"Um…" Meng had caught up and was tugging on Jet's sleeve, "Sir?"

"What?!" Jet wheeled around.

"You shouldn't be so angry with Aunt Wu," Meng averted her eyes, "Maybe she had a reason for not telling you your fortune…"

"And what would that be?" Jet asked.

"Well, maybe…" Meng continued to stare at the floor, "If she told you, you'd wish she hadn't."

"W-what?" Jet suddenly calmed down.

"Well, maybe," Meng refused to make eye contact, "There was something really bad in your future."

"Bad, huh?" Jet cocked his head, "Fine," he shrugged and walked out the door.

"I'll go make sure he's all right," Mai followed him. Zuko and Fred left after her.

"Well… um… Tell Aunt Wu we said thank you," Milo said before he ran out to catch up.

* * *

"Well, how was it?" Iroh asked once he had found them all together.

"Fun," Zuko answered absent-mindedly. He was the only one who wasn't too wrapped up in his thoughts to hear Iroh.

"At least there's hope."

"But I'll have to face Azula someday…"

"Epic battle? Good and evil? I seriously doubt it… But what if…"

"But how could she trust me after what happened in Ba Sing Se?"

"It's not like I should pay any attention to it. Something bad, yeah right… Right?"


	17. Zuko: Prince, Student, Stalker

**Author's Note**: I'm back! Still not done writing, but I have an idea of what the rest of the story looks like…

**Disclaimer**: Nope, still don't own Avatar…

* * *

The sun broke over the horizon. Zuko sat watching it, thinking about what Aunt Wu had said. "Your opposite in many ways, but at the heart, the same." He sighed. Like he really needed a fortuneteller to tell him that. The question was just… how? How would it even be possible? He looked back at Mai and Jet and sighed again.

He woke Fred up, but she wasn't exactly pleased to see him so early.

"What is it?" she grunted.

"I…" Zuko trailed off. He didn't need to burden Fred with his troubles. "I'm going to get some firewood. I'll be back soon." Fred nodded groggily and went back to sleep, thinking nothing of it.

* * *

"WHAT?!" Jet screamed, "Firewood?!"

"Yeah," Fred tried to rub the sleep from her eyes, "What about it?" The others had woken up and were at least slightly dismayed to discover Zuko's absence.

"Um… he's a FIREBENDER?!" Jet groaned, "He really doesn't need much firewood!"

"Well SORRY!" Fred grumbled," It was early…"

"How early?" Mai asked, leaning against a tree.

"I don't know," Fred looked around, "A few hours ago, maybe…"

"Hours!" Jet exclaimed, "We have to find him. We'll meet back here at noon-"

"I had no idea you cared so much about Zuko," Mai stood, slightly amused, but concealing it well.

"I don't care what happens to Zuko!" Jet scoffed (unconvincingly, in Mai's opinion), "I just… don't want to be responsible if he burns down a village or something!"

"It is probably best if we split up," Iroh ignored the village-burning comment, "We could cover more ground that way."

"Right," Jet nodded, "Fred, Milo, you two stick together. Me, Iroh, and Mai will each go separately." He walked off with an air of purpose, but without another word. Mai and Iroh followed his lead, and, after a moment of wondering just who Jet thought he was, so did Fred, with Milo close behind.

* * *

Jet moved through the forest almost silently. He noticed the footprint on the ground. Fresh. Ha. Too easy. He followed them straight to Zuko.

"What are you doing?" Jet asked, truly curious as to why Zuko was crouched in a bush, evidently looking at something.

"Nothing!" Zuko bolted up and turned bright red, "Just… looking for berries on this bush here!"

"Okay…" Jet nodded, "Now really, what were you doing?"

"You could have warned me you were coming," Zuko glared, "Instead of trying to scare me like that."

"Just answer the question," Jet persisted, "You were looking at something."

"Well, there you go," Zuko shrugged, "Why bother asking if you already know?"

"Because…" Jet shoved Zuko out of the way, "I'm curious." Jet knelt down and peered out from the bushes. He didn't see much… A river, some trees, Katara, some rocks- Katara!

"What's with you?" Zuko asked, truly curious as to why Jet had almost immediately jumped up and started to walk away as quickly as he could without running.

"I need to go find Mai," Jet kept walking, "Before I do something I know I'll regret."

Zuko watched Jet leave, shrugged, and went back to his bush.

* * *

"Hey, Fred," Milo tried to say it. They were alone. No Zuko or Mai or Jet to laugh at him.

"Yeah?" Fred turned to him.

"Um…" Milo was suddenly stuck for the words he wanted, "Never mind…"

* * *

"Jet," Mai said, "How's your search coming?"

"Fine," Jet kissed her, "I found him."

"Where is he, then?" she asked, "Is he all right?"

"He's fine," Jet smiled as best he could, "Don't worry about him."

"All right," Mai nodded, "If you say so. We should look for the others."

* * *

Zuko sat watching Katara practice her waterbending. She was beautiful… Had he just thought that? He meant _it_ was beautiful… the waterbending… He sighed. _This_ was the girl he was supposed to marry? He sighed yet again. Not after Ba Sing Se, no way she would trust him…

A branch snapped near him. His eyes darted to the source of the noise. Katara had apparently heard it as well, as she readied a water whip and turned around. A moment's silence.

With a mighty yell, a man with a broadsword emerged and ran at Katara. Zuko was surprised that he recognized him. The pirate barker…

Katara wrapped the water around the pirate's wrist and threw him back. He groaned, but soon there were four pirates standing in front of him, ready to fight.

"Hello missy," the captain smirked, "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"What do you want?" Katara glared at them.

"Well, here's the thing about us merchants," the pirate's grin grew larger, "We can hold grudges for a very long time." A reptile bird began to circle overhead. "No quarter."

"I can live with that," Katara scoffed and sent a huge wave their way.

The pirates retreated into the trees, one of them dragging the struggling barker with him. They may have escaped most of the wave's fury, but Zuko could ascertain one thing. They were at least as soaked as he was.

"We've repaid the fire prince already," one of the pirates sneered from behind a tree, "And your friends aren't here to save you this time."

"I can still fight without them!" Katara returned, "Now come out, you cowards!" Zuko tensed up, but relaxed when he remembered that her words weren't directed at him this time.

"Sure, we'll come out," the pirate barker smiled slyly as he threw something toward Katara. A smoke bomb. It detonated the second it hit the ground, clouding the area with smoke.

Katara looked around, frustrated that she couldn't see a thing. She made another water whip and stood her ground.

Zuko wasn't quite sure what to do. It would probably be better if he stayed put, but he couldn't let Katara get hurt. He stood and moved to the pirates' hiding spot. One was still there. Better than nothing.

"Who are you?" the pirate asked.

"Your worst nightmare," Zuko pushed the wet hair back from his face to show his scar. The pirate gasped, quite rationally surprised to see someone that he thought was dead.

Katara lashed her water whip about blindly. No fear of hurting Aang or Sokka this time. A groan. Sounded like one was down. Four to go.

"Quit hiding!" she turned quickly. Another groan. Three left.

"Here I am, girlie," the pirate barker smirked as the smoke began to clear.

"Good," Katara prepared to strike. But then she noticed that something was wrong. The pirate barker was right in front of her. The two she had knocked out were still on the ground. But there had been five pirates. Where were…

"Gotcha!" the captain snorted as he grabbed Katara's wrists from behind. The barker drew a knife. "Such a pretty face…" the captain continued, "It'll be a shame to ruin it…" Katara struggled, but she couldn't break free. She kicked the pirate captain in the shin.

"That's it!" the pirate captain screamed. He threw Katara to the ground and kicked her.

"That's it!" Zuko screamed. The pirate barker couldn't tell what hit him as he fell to the ground, dropping his blade in the grass.

"What the-?!" the pirate captain's following words were lost as a fireball knocked him into the river.

"Are you all right?" Zuko helped Katara to her feet.

"Zuko…" Katara whispered as she looked into the eyes of her savior.

"I told you I'd save you from the pirates," he smiled.

She gave him a gigantic thank-you by slapping him.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Well, I did warn you guys about the Zutara back at the beginning... Feel free to tell me how I'm doing on the cliche-o-meter...


	18. Forging New Alliances

**Author's Note**: Hey, sorry I didn't post this earlier, I've been volunteering for the past few weeks at a summer science camp and then I caught something from one of the four-year-olds and I felt like my brain had been liquidated… At least I got more written before I got sick, now I just have a few more chapters left to write…

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Avatar.

* * *

"Let go of me!" Katara struggled against Zuko as he brought her to camp, "I swear, if you don't, you'll be sorry!"

"Calm down," Zuko said, "You're hurt. I- We need to make sure you're all right."

"Right, of course," Katara stopped squirming, "But I wonder…"

"What?" Zuko practically jumped at the opportunity to have a civil conversation.

"How could anyone in their right mind believe you?!" Katara bit Zuko on the hand and fought even harder than before.

"OW!" Zuko held on to her for dear life, "Please! Just listen to me! I've changed!"

"Ha!" Katara snorted, "You've said that before!"

"If you're talking about what happened at Ba Sing Se," Zuko merited a glare from Katara, "Okay… Since you _are_ talking about what happened at Ba Sing Se… I was misguided back then. But now… look, if you can bring yourself to trust me, just a little bit, you'll see that it's for real this time."

"Fine," Katara huffed, "I'll follow you. But I'm telling you, if this is just an act, if you're in league with those pirates, if you're after Aang…"

"I get it, I get it…" Zuko relaxed a little, "I'll be sorry. And we're almost-"

"Good morning, my nephew," Iroh interrupted as they walked into camp, "Where have you been?"

"Uncle! Well, um… I found Katara and… she's, um, hurt…" Zuko stumbled through his words, "Um… yeah… Does she look okay to you?" He breathed a sigh of relief now that that was over with.

"Hmm…" Iroh contemplated, "She merely looks tired. Perhaps, young lady, if you do not object, you should rest here for awhile."

"I don't object," Katara bowed, "Thank you for your hospitality." She separated herself from Zuko and sat down.

"Where are the others?" Zuko took a seat next to her. She pretended not to notice.

"Looking for you," Iroh answered, "You gave us all quite a scare."

"I told Fred that I was going," Zuko huffed.

"Ah, yes, but I am guessing that she is not the firewood you referred to," Iroh gestured toward Katara.

"Oh… right… firewood…" Zuko stared at the ground, "About that…"

"See! He's perfectly fine!" a voice interrupted, preventing Zuko from explaining his lie. He would have hugged the owner of that voice, if he hadn't hated him so much. Instead, he grimaced as Jet, Mai, Fred, and Milo approached.

"Jet?" Katara scrambled to her feet, "Jet!" She ran to him and embraced, "It's so good to see you! How have you been? I thought you…"

"Died?" Jet finished her sentence, "Almost… But the world isn't getting rid of me that easily." (Iroh heard Zuko mutter something in response, but he couldn't make out what it was).

"And I would appreciate it if you would let go of my boyfriend," Mai cut in.

"You!" Katara stepped back, "You're one of Azula's friends!" She glared furiously at Zuko, "How do you explain this?"

"He doesn't," Mai sighed, "I do. Look, you don't know me all that well. I'm Fire Nation, I follow Azula around, I'm easily annoyed, and I throw daggers at people. That's probably the extent of your knowledge of me. You don't even know my name, do you?"

Katara opened her mouth to say, "Of course I do!" but it wouldn't come out. The truth of the matter was that she had no idea.

"That's what I thought," Mai smirked. The smile quickly left her face, "Let's just start over. I'm Mai. What's your name?"

"Katara," the two girls shook hands.

"You were quick to forgive her…" Zuko grumbled.

"She hasn't lied to me before," Katara answered, beaming and still not looking at him, "But, wait… Jet? Mai is your girlfriend? You do know she's…"

"Fire Nation?" Jet's mouth twitched into a wry smile, "Yeah… I know… As are the two sitting over there." He pointed to Zuko and Iroh.

"And you're okay with it?" Katara asked.

"It doesn't matter when it comes to Mai," Jet smiled sincerely, "As for Zuko… I travel with him, don't I?"

"Nice job avoiding the question," Zuko muttered. He was promptly ignored.

"And who are you?" Katara turned to Fred and Milo.

"I'm Fred… and this is Milo," Fred gestured to her unconscious friend, "He's… um… been doing this sort of thing a lot lately… He should probably get it checked out."

"Fred? Milo? Those are… unusual names," Katara said. Fred groaned as she realized how badly she had just messed up.

"What?" Katara was utterly confused, "I, um, didn't mean that as a bad thing. I like your names."

"Katara," Zuko sighed, "Just hear me out. I'll explain everything that I can."

* * *

Katara's head spun. There was a world beyond the Spirit World? With not four nations, but 193? And no benders? Yes, apparently so, and she was talking with five people who claimed to have been there.

"That was my reaction too," Jet nodded, "It's a lot to take in."

A long silence ensued, mainly because no one could think of anything to say. Really, what does one say after telling a story like that one? There was nothing else to add to it, and the subject was not easily changed, although changed the subject was.

"Is the Avatar in need of a firebending master?" Iroh asked.

"Um, yes, Aang is still looking for one… Why?" Katara asked.

"Well, if you do not object to our group joining yours," Iroh hesitated for a moment, "I could offer my services as a teacher."

Katara thought for a few moments. "All right," she nodded, "I'll take you to them, and if everyone's all right with it, you can stay."

* * *

"Shouldn't Katara have come back by now?" Aang asked nervously, "It's been over an hour since she left to go get some water."

"I'm sure she's fine," Sokka waved off his worries as he finished loading their things on Appa, "She's probably just taking her time about it."

Momo flew from Appa's saddle to Aang's shoulder and squeaked reassuringly. Aang absent-mindedly scratched Momo behind the ear, but he wasn't calmed by it at all.

Toph lied on the ground with her eyes closed. Aang thought she was asleep until she said, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is Sugar Queen's coming back."

"Really?" Aang asked, "She's okay?"

"I think so," Toph shrugged.

"Then what's the bad news?" Sokka asked.

"You aren't going to like who she's with," Toph sighed.

"Who?" Aang asked, "Who is it?"

"Geez, who put a buzzard-wasp in your briefs, Twinkletoes?" Toph huffed, "There's six of them. I don't recognize two of them, but the other four…"

"Who?" Aang pressed.

"Well, I don't think they're coming to capture you or anything. It's-"

"Hey guys!" Katara emerged from between the trees, "Sorry I took so long. But I found Aang a firebending teacher!"

"Really? Who- Zuko!" Aang took out his staff as he caught glimpse of the fire prince and his companions.

"And that gloomy girl who's friends with Azula and throws daggers at people!" Sokka added.

"Do we really need to go through all of this again?" Mai groaned. Because she knew they did.


	19. Wait!

**

* * *

**

To Avatar7084

: Hey, what's up? I haven't replied to you yet, have I? Yeah, I check back every so often, and I did see the new boards… They don't really work very well for posting stories, do they? I've meant to get caught up on the ones I used to read, but my attention span seems to have decreased drastically… I blame the new board set-up. I already saw Boiling Rock online, though, but yeah, you bet I'll be watching the finale!

**To mind2freak**: Yeah, I don't have to worry about this getting deleted, but if I click this button here, then… NO! Haha, just messing with you, I'm not deleting this… And I did kinda imply that I wouldn't come back to the boards, so I'll post the sequel here. If you want, I could send you a NICKMail telling you when I get it posted… And your prediction comes true… next chapter…

**Disclaimer**: I _do_ own Avatar! In your faces! Okay, so maybe I _don't_ own Avatar…

* * *

"They're telling the truth," Toph nonetheless raised a skeptical eyebrow, "I don't know… We should probably give them a chance. At worst, they're a bunch of psychos."

"Maybe they're just really good liars," Sokka suggested. He wasn't about to let that angry jerk onto Team Avatar like that.

"Not all of them," Toph shook her head, "I can tell when Jet's lying, remember?"

"Aha!" Sokka laughed as he pointed at Jet, "Then how is standing here all alive and stuff?!"

"Oh geez, this is gonna be hard to explain," Jet sighed, "All right, so I thought I was dying, but I didn't want you guys to worry, so I said I was going to be fine, so to the best of my knowledge, I was lying. But I was wrong, which means that technically I was right and I wasn't lying, but at the time, I was."

"Hold on a second! Nobody talk!" Sokka frowned, "Just give me some time and I _will_ figure it out!" Toph punched him in the arm.

"I don't really like it either, but Aang needs a firebending teacher," Katara reasoned, "We know Jet and Iroh are on our side, and I think we can trust Mai and the other two."

"I'm fine with it," Aang smiled, "How about you, Appa?"

Appa answered by roaring and licking Mai, covering her in bison slobber. She grimaced.

"Appa likes the idea," Aang grinned, "Welcome to Team Avatar!"

"Avatar Aang," Iroh bowed, "I believe we should begin your training immediately."

"Fine by me," Aang shrugged. He followed Iroh a distance away to begin.

"It's over? Whatever," Toph went back to lying on the ground.

"Hey, Milo… I just noticed," Fred said, "You just met the Avatar and… you didn't faint."

"No… I didn't…" Milo mused, "I guess I was just expecting it this time…"

"Katara? Could I talk to you..." Zuko hesitated, "Alone?"

Katara gave Zuko a look that he couldn't interpret, sighed, and nodded. They too left the camp, leaving Jet, Mai, and Sokka as the only ones not elsewhere or engaged in conversation. An awkward silence prevailed.

* * *

"You must control your breathing, young Avatar," Iroh instructed, "Firebending power comes from the breath. Before we move on to more advanced techniques, you must master the basics."

"All right," Aang changed his stance, "Um… Sifu Iroh? I've been trying to follow that advice you gave me back in Ba Sing Se and… I think it might be working. The… um… girl I was talking about seems to maybe… like me."

"I am pleased to hear that," Iroh smiled warmly, "But now is the time to practice firebending. We may speak of other things later."

Aang nodded and returned to perfecting his breathing.

* * *

"Look… Katara," Zuko took a deep breath, "I'm really sorry about the things I've done in the past. If I could go back and change them, joined with you instead of Azula… I would. But I can't, so… um…" He groaned and turned away from Katara, "Why did I bother starting this conversation in the first place?"

"Well, you did," Katara sighed, "Zuko… I-I probably shouldn't have been so hard on you at first… It's just… You're the stupid jerk who betrayed us in the Crystal Catacombs! How could I forget about that?"

"I understand… You have a right to hate me," Zuko stared at the ground. He momentarily wished that Katara was one of his fangirls from Blaceenth High, but he knew that wasn't how things were. "While we're talking about things that could have happened, but didn't… In those Crystal Catacombs, what do you think would have happened if the Avatar and my uncle hadn't shown up when they did?"

Katara groaned, "Like Aang hasn't already asked a million times… I probably would have tried to heal your scar. Then Azula would have come and you would have betrayed me like you did… Why?"

"Just curious," Zuko mumbled. Then, he thought for a moment, "When did I go from betraying you and your friends to betraying just you?"

"What?" Katara's eyes widened.

"You just said 'you would have betrayed me'. Before, you said 'betrayed us'," Zuko pointed out and then sighed, "… If Azula hadn't come, then what would have happened?"

Katara swallowed hard, "We would have sat there, saying nothing, doing nothing."

"Right…" Zuko's voice trailed off. He turned away to return to the camp.

"Wait!" the word came out of Katara's mouth before she could stop it. Zuko turned back to look at her and she froze. She hadn't thought the rest of that statement through. What could she tell him? About what she _might_ have done in the catacombs? About that strange feeling she got when she thought about seeing him, a mixture of giddy joy and dread? About those weird dreams she had had every so often over the past few months, the ones with him in them? Katara had no desire to make a complete and total fool of herself.

"Like I said, m-maybe I was a little hard on you at first," Katara finished, "I'm sorry. And I haven't officially welcomed you to the group yet. So…"

"Apology accepted," Zuko started staring at the ground, "I… well… I know this is probably totally unwanted and it's coming out of nowhere, but do you want to… um… Get something to eat sometime, maybe?" Fred would have laughed to see the mighty Daniel Hatake stumble through his words so.

Katara blushed madly, "W-What? You're not… serious, are you?"

Zuko groaned. He knew Katara couldn't possibly have liked _him_. He muttered something and began to walk away.

"Wait!" the word escaped Katara's lips a second time, "I… uh… would, but… wouldn't it be a little awkward, being enemies and then suddenly being… you know…"

"Awkward like this is right now?" Zuko asked.

"Point taken," Katara sighed, "So… Next town? We may as well give this a shot…"

"Next town's fine with me," Zuko smiled.

The two nodded and returned to the rest of the group.


	20. Getting Organized

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Avatar, Twilight, or Edward Cullen… Dear God, I wish I owned Edward Cullen…

* * *

Ty Lee pranced into Azula's bedroom at the palace. They had temporarily returned to the Fire Nation Capital with June a few days ago, to rest for awhile, make sure that the word of Mai's treachery spread, and basically get organized.

"What are you so happy about?" Azula eyed Ty Lee skeptically from her bed.

"I think I'm in _love_!" Ty Lee giggled, hugging the now-battered copy of Twilight tightly.

"Edward?" Azula grinned knowingly.

"EDWARD!" Ty Lee screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Isn't he just amazing?" Azula laughed.

"I know! I love him! He's just _perfect_!" Ty Lee then instigated a chant of "Edward! Edward! Edward!" which Azula joined, grinning like a hyena. The two girls jumped about, having a grand time fantasizing about the arguably fictional vampire, until they were interrupted.

"Are you two still going on about that silly book?" Jun entered the room and leaned against the wall, "Honestly…"

"Really, Jun," Azula calmed down and smiled coquettishly, "You can't comment on it, at least not until you've read the book."

"Fine. I think I will read it," Jun stormed over and snatched the book from Ty Lee, "So… Why are we still hanging around here? My shirsu is getting restless. It needs to hunt."

"Not too much longer," Azula sat down on her bed again, "Just until the wanted posters get out. Then we can search again."

Ty Lee shifted around uncomfortably. Mai had betrayed them, that was true, but…

"Princess Azula!" a man rushed into the room, panting heavily, "Here's the first of the wanted posters you commissioned." He handed her a piece of paper.

"Wanted: Mai, daughter of the governor of New Ozai," Azula read aloud, "Age 15. Has no bending powers, but is extremely skilled in knife-throwing. Easily provoked. Hunters, be extremely cautious. To be brought back dead or alive by the decree of the Firelord."

Azula suddenly scowled. She slowly crumpled the poster into a ball, lit it on fire, and threw it at the man's head. He ducked just in time, and it flew out the door and through a window, landing in a pond of turtle-ducks. The turtle-ducks quacked and splashed around in response.

"Listen to me, servant," Azula slid off her bed again and grabbed the man by his collar, "I don't want this one brought back dead or alive. Her death could potentially be quick and painless. This one needs to be punished for her treachery. I. Want. Her. _Alive_."

"Yes, Princess, right away, Princess," the man nodded, pulled away from Azula and ran as fast as he could to deliver the message.

"Bravo," Jun clapped as soon as he was out of earshot, "Your brother may be a hopeless loser, but you I can understand."

"I see we are capable of agreeing on certain things," Azula smirked, "This partnership might turn out better than I thought it would."

"Possibly," Jun smiled, and then frowned, "But I'm still getting paid, or it's off."

"Of course," Azula shrugged, "Ty Lee… you've been… quiet…"

"Oh!" Ty Lee seemed to suddenly return to reality, "I… um… I think I'll go take a walk." She gulped and quickly left the room. Jun gave her a perplexed look as she left, and then turned to Azula. The princess merely shrugged.

* * *

"How did this happen?" Ty Lee whispered to herself as she walked, staring at the ground, "Why'd Mai leave us? I don't get it… I just don't get any of it… None of it makes sense… Mai… Azula… Zuko… the war… What's wrong with people?" She shook her head. "Why do we insist on hurting each other?... Why am I asking myself this?! If I knew, I would know!" She stopped in her tracks, suddenly wishing that Azula's uncle would appear from nowhere to explain it to her. She had never talked to Iroh much… That seemed like a mistake now. Ty Lee was left to organize her thoughts on her own.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Aww... Poor Ty Lee...


	21. First Disaster, I Mean Date

**Author's Note**: Is it really the 24th? Wow, meant to post this earlier. Sorry for the delay.

**Disclaimer**: Yeah, I'm pretty sure I still don't own anything.

**To Avii**: Twilight is a book about this girl who falls in love with a teenage vampire named Edward Cullen and it's sort of a joke that every girl who reads the book also falls in love with Edward (not entirely true though, since I know of a few girls who didn't).

* * *

Milo had finally gotten his wish. He was riding a sky bison. However, he was too busy concentrating on not emptying the contents of his stomach to enjoy it.

"Um… Milo?" Fred asked, "Are you sure you'll be all right?"

"I think so," Milo moaned, "I guess flying just doesn't agree with me… But just in case… Fred?"

"Yeah?"

"… Never mind, flying just doesn't agree with me."

Zuko gave a little smirk as Jet grimaced, although no one could really deduce why.

"Finally! Somebody agrees with me!" Toph exclaimed, grinning, and hugged Milo tightly.

"Toph… You aren't helping," Milo groaned.

"Hey, guys!" Aang chimed in, "Appa's getting tired. Too many people, I guess… We'll have to land." Appa roared and began to descend.

"I think we might need more provisions," Katara suggested, according to plan, "I'll go into town. Does anyone want to come with me?"

"I will," Zuko volunteered, also according to plan.

"So will I," Aang offered, not according to plan.

"That's all right, Aang," Katara declined, "Zuko and I can handle it."

"Oh… Right," Aang nodded, looking crestfallen, as Appa touched down. Zuko and Katara dismounted and left the others to unpack.

After he knew they were out of earshot, Zuko grimaced, "Are you sure that lying was the best thing to do?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Katara sighed, "It's the only way we could possibly be alone. Aang and Sokka would panic if they knew about this. And they won't find out, I promise. So… Do you know what people do on dates? I honestly haven't ever…"

"I've been on about… three," Zuko shrugged, "You go somewhere. You talk. Maybe you eat. That's about it."

"Oh…" Katara frowned, "This'll just be one long awkward silence, won't it?"

"Probably," Zuko sighed, "But who knows?"

* * *

Zuko and Katara found a small shack of a restaurant. It looked fine from the outside. So they agreed to eat there, only to discover that their first impressions were entirely wrong. They sat on stiff wooden stools in a shadowy corner of the seedy bar they had so foolishly chosen, wondering when the last time was that their table had been cleaned, if ever. Katara shifted about uncomfortably and stared at the ceiling in an attempt to avoid making eye contact with two men at the bar who she could feel eyeing her lecherously.

"Is this normal for a date?" Katara whispered urgently, finally giving in and casting a quick glance over her shoulder. One of the men smirked and Katara's gaze returned to the ceiling.

"Not that I know of," Zuko was on edge as well. He lowered his voice to a whisper, "Don't worry. If anyone here tries anything, I'll protect you."

"I can protect myself," Katara said, "But thanks for the offer."

"Ay! You two kids over there!" the barkeep shouted, "Whaddya want?!"

"On second thought, we're leaving now," Zuko stood and began to leave. Katara mouthed "Thank you" and quickly followed.

One of the two men who had been ogling Katara snorted as she passed him. She made no response. A third man with long black hair, brown eyes, and thin scars crossing his tan face at the bar slid out of his barstool and blocked the door.

"Well, well mister," he whistled at Zuko, "You goin' somewhere?"

"Yeah, away from here," Zuko grunted, "Now out of my way!" He shoved the man aside and opened the door for Katara, hoping she wouldn't take the poor choice of dining establishment as an omen. The other man smirked as he watched Zuko and Katara leave.

"That was freaky," Zuko muttered, "Sorry, let's look for somewhere else."

No place presented itself immediately. Both Zuko and Katara wondered if perhaps they should have agreed on the next next town.

"Maybe we should just get the groceries and run?" Katara suggested, "We could try this some other time."

Zuko would have agreed. He honestly would have. But he was distracted at that moment by a wall filled with wanted posters. He ran to it and tore one down, staring at it.

"What is it?" Katara asked before she saw who it was for. Mai. Wanted alive. She gasped.

"Looks like Azula doesn't forgive easily. Not like we didn't already know that," Zuko pocketed the poster, "Mai should see this."

"So you've got friends? Prince Zuko?" a voice made Zuko and Katara start. It was the scarred man from the bar. "Don't think I didn't recognize you." He pulled out a wanted poster with Zuko's picture on it, "A bounty hunter is always looking for his mark, and your scar makes you easy. So getting the reward should be simple. I just need to take you down. Of course, if we fight, your little girlfriend might get hurt." Katara harrumphed.

"Look," Zuko whispered to her, "You should run. This guy already knows who I am. If you waterbend-"

It was too late. Katara had already frozen the bounty hunter to the wall of the opposite building.

"Nobody saw," Katara shrugged sheepishly.

Zuko hesitantly nodded in agreement.

* * *

Back at camp, Aang was worried again.

"Katara and Zuko have been gone awhile, haven't they?" he shifted around uncomfortably.

"I'm sure Sugar Queen and Hothead'll be fine," Toph sighed, "They can handle themselves."

"Hothead?" Jet tilted his head skeptically.

"Yeah, y'know, Hothead. It's my new nickname for Zuko," Toph explained.

"Hmm… Hothead…" Jet repeated thoughtfully, "Calling him that would probably drive Zuko insane… I like it."

"Well, I'm going into town," Aang stood, "I'm sure Katara and Zuko won't mind."

* * *

"Well, this is a lot better," Katara remarked. She and Zuko sat in a patio restaurant that they found after about an hour of hungry searching.

"So… Now what?" Zuko asked.

"Um… So… It's Lee, right?" Katara said, "What do you… uh… like to do?"

"Not much…" Zuko sighed, "I… didn't exactly have a normal childhood, if you remember. And you?"

"I tend to be busy acting like a mom to… well, you know. I just mainly practice my bending and look after everyone else."

"Great. Neither of us have lives. At least we have that in common."

"Well, hopefully we will someday," Katara laughed a bit.

"Who knows?" Zuko was glad that he had said something that amused Katara and felt that he could be on a roll, "Maybe we'll have a life together someday!"

Katara stopped laughing instantly. Apparently, bringing up marriage on a first date was a big don't.

"What was that?" Katara asked, unsure that she had heard correctly. Had Zuko really just suggested…? Not that she was necessarily opposed to the idea, but…

"Um… Nothing," Zuko did his best to return to his usual, stoic self.

"Well," Katara knew better, but pretended to believe Zuko anyway, "I… um… uh… Wow." She shook her head, "It's been so long since I've talked about something that wasn't the war…"

"It feels like it's been forever since I've talked about the war," Zuko sighed, "I was… well, you know. Uncle and I have been out of it for awhile. How…" He looked around, "I'll ask later."

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask you," Katara said, "I know you and..."

"Uncle Mushi," Zuko prompted, "And Sayo, Zhuo, and Ginta."

"Right," Katara continued, "Well, I know you told me about that place, but it was just the facts. What was it… really like?"

"Do you know what homecoming is?" Zuko asked. Katara answered in the negative, setting the stage for Zuko's tale.

* * *

"Found them!" Aang grinned as he spotted Zuko and Katara at the table. Sokka and Jet were with him.

"They don't look like they're in trouble," Jet observed, "Actually, the exact opposite."

Aang saw Katara laugh at something Zuko had said. A dark look crossed his face.

"She's getting awfully close to Angry Jerk," Sokka remarked distrustfully.

"Angry Jerk…" Jet thought for a moment, "That's another good one. I think I like Hothead better, though. No offense, Sokka."

But Sokka was too busy running after Aang to make any response.

* * *

"Uh… Fred?" Milo decided to give it a second try now that most of the others were in town and Mai was off in the woods getting away from Appa or "that thing that tried to eat me," leaving only Iroh and Toph behind.

"Yeah?" Fred asked.

"…Never mind." Two failures in one day. This seemed excessive. Meanwhile, Toph smiled in amusement.

* * *

"What are you two doing?" Aang interrupted as Zuko was getting to the part about the long line of girls asking him to homecoming. Katara was finding Zuko's semi-pain quite humorous.

Sokka stood next to Aang, examining Zuko suspiciously. Jet ran up and looked at Aang and Sokka's expressions to gauge the mood of the situation.

"You fiend!" Jet pointed at Zuko after his assessment, "What are you doing with Katara?!"

"Right, they won't find out, of course," Zuko muttered.

"Well, if you must know," Katara stared at the floor uncomfortably, "Me and Zuko were… on a date."

"WHAT?!" Sokka exploded, "Angry Jerk and my sister?!"

"You mean I crashed your date?" Jet raised an eyebrow, "With apologies to Katara, this is even more fun than I hoped for!"

"Shut up, Jet," Zuko sighed.

"Hey, I just noticed, you're miserable, aren't you?" Jet asked Zuko, "Well… That means that I'm happy!"

"Knock it off, Jet," Zuko groaned again.

Aang stared at his shoes. He wasn't quite sure how to react to this. He thought things had been looking good for him and Katara, but… Come to think of it, Katara had no idea how he felt about her, did she?

"Jet, please," Katara said gently.

"Let's get those groceries and head back to camp," Aang said before storming off.

* * *

The bounty hunter awoke. What had just hit him? He realized that he was frozen to the side of a building.

"Well, well, the fire prince's little girlfriend's a waterbender," he observed, "Interesting…" He tried to move, "Crap! She's got trapped pretty good. But I'll get out… And I'll get even."


	22. A Tangled Web

**Author's Note**: Geez, it's hard to believe (for me, anyway) that this story only has eight chapters left in it… On a slightly related note, I put a poll up on my profile page and it would be really great if people could vote in it…

**Disclaimer**: I do _not_ own Avatar…

**Un autre note de l'auteur**: Je regrette, ce chapitre ici, il est assez mauvais... Quoi? Je dois practiquer le français! L'école revenis (hope I conjugated that last verb right…)!

* * *

"Hey! Sugar Queen! Hothead! Snoozles! Twinkletoes! Guy I Still Need to Come up With a Name For!" Toph greeted them all, "How'd it go?"

Aang hopped onto Appa and curled up into a ball without a word.

"That bad?" Toph asked.

"What's going on?" Mai asked as she returned to camp.

"I'll try to fill you guys in," Jet stepped forward.

"But there's something a bit more pressing," Zuko took out Mai's wanted poster, "These are probably all over the place."

"Well," Mai shrugged as she examined the poster, "This was bound to happen eventually."

"Speaking of 'eventually'" Sokka cut in, "I need to have a talk with Angry Jerk." Zuko sighed and followed Sokka as Jet began to tell the tale of what he had seen, Katara busied herself by setting out sleeping bags, and Aang curled up into an even tighter ball, wishing he could forget.

"Look, Angr- I mean, Zuko," Sokka sighed before screaming, "_What's the big idea trying to date my sister?!_" Sokka's outburst made Aang cover his ears, caused Katara and Zuko both to turn red, and rendered Jet's storytelling skills unnecessary. Toph stifled a laugh, Milo looked around confusedly, and Iroh muttered something that sounded like, "So I do know her."

"Sorry about that, this is… difficult for me. But I'm going to try to handle this like my father would," Sokka put his hand on Zuko's shoulder, "Young man, I see you have your eye on my sister."

"Um… yes," Zuko wondered why Sokka was addressing him as "young man," seeing as Zuko was the older of the two.

"Well, then," Sokka stared at the ground, "If Katara thinks you're good enough for her, then… I suppose…"

"Wait…" it dawned on Zuko, "Are you saying you're all right with this?"

"No!" Sokka rolled his eyes, "But I won't interfere… Even if it is very tempting."

"Never thought I'd say this, but," Zuko smiled, "Thanks, Sokka."

"Never thought I'd say this, but," Sokka shrugged, "You're welcome, Angry Jerk."

* * *

Aang sat up and shook his head. Katara… And Zuko? He sighed. He needed something to take his mind off of it.

"Sifu Iroh?" he asked, "Is it too late for some firebending practice?"

Iroh glanced at the nearly setting sun, "Perhaps just a little, but it will have to be a short session."

* * *

"Glad you finally figured it out, Sugar Queen," Toph playfully punched Katara in the arm, "I was starting to get sick of feeling your heart rate go up whenever somebody mentioned Hothead."

"It did not!" Katara said indignantly.

"Liar," Toph grinned and Katara looked away.

"Was it just my imagination, or is Aang not acting like himself?" Katara tried to change the subject away from her and Zuko. She had noticed it awhile ago, but since Aang was practicing firebending with Iroh, that moment seemed to be the first safe opportunity to mention it.

"Yeah, really weird," Toph reluctantly agreed, "I think I'll go talk to Snoozles…"

"Toph…" Katara had a thought, "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Nothing you don't know. Like I said the thing with the heart rate," Toph shrugged. She wouldn't tell Sugar Queen about Twinkletoes right now… That was the Avatar's job.

* * *

"You seem angered by something, my pupil," Iroh observed, "What is troubling you?"

"Love problems," Aang admitted curtly as he tried to control a small fire. The flames licked his palm as they grew larger and larger until Iroh waved his hand over the blaze, extinguishing it.

"Pupil Aang," the retired general sighed, "You must control your firebending, which also means controlling your passion. If you cannot do so, I cannot teach you the more advanced techniques. I am sorry."

"I understand, Sifu Iroh," Aang bowed, although not without a hint of distress in his voice.

* * *

Zuko, Jet, Toph, and Mai sat in a circle, conversing quietly.

"I want in," Toph declared, "I say yes."

"May as well," Mai shrugged, "I think not."

"What?!" Jet was outraged, "You're taking _his_ side in this?"

"Just my opinion," Mai sighed, "There's no way in this world or any other that it will ever happen."

"To be honest, I want it to happen," Zuko nodded, "But the chances are slim."

"Well, Squirt, it's time for us to beat the odds," Toph beamed.

"Squirt?" Zuko choked back a laugh, "Suddenly, I like being called Hothead."

"Shut it, Angry Jerk," Jet huffed.

* * *

"Aang, are you back so soon?" Katara asked as a disgruntled Aang approached her.

"Katara, there's something I need to tell you," Aang stated.

* * *

"You want an earthbender's advice?" Toph punched Milo in the arm.

"Advice about what?" Milo was already prepared to be completely ignored.

"Problems are just like rocks," Toph went on, "You can't be afraid of them, have to face 'em head on."

"That's… great…" Milo wasn't quite sure what she was getting at.

"You can't chicken out at the last second," she continued further, "If you screw this up, I can guarantee you, you'll regret it."

"What are you talking about?" he scratched his head.

"You know what I'm talking about, Never Mind," Toph shrugged and started to walk off.

"Never Min- Wha…?" Milo was utterly confused before his brain put the pieces together, "Oh… Is it that obvious?"

"Hello? Lie detector!" Toph pointed to her feet, "If you supposedly know random information about us through a magical thing called a 'television,' you should know that!"

"Oh… Right…" Milo sighed, "But what makes you qualified to give me love advice? Don't you have that thing for Sokka?" Biggest. Mistake. Ever.

* * *

"What is it, Aang?" Katara smiled, unaware of what Aang was about to tell her.

"Well, you see, it's about you… and me," Aang started.

* * *

One would think that Milo would know better than to ask Toph about Sokka. One would think. And, wedged between two boulders, he had been in more comfortable situations.

"Milo, what happened to you?" Fred approached him.

"I'm not sure," he groaned, "Help would be appreciated, though."

"I guess I'll go get Toph," Fred said, "She earthbends, doesn't she?"

"No! Not Toph!" Milo vehemently protested, much to Fred's confusion, "Er… I think I can get out without bothering her." He squirmed around a bit, but to no avail.

"Here," Fred attempted to pull him out, ending in success.

"Thanks… And Fred?"

"Yeah?"

"…Never mind…" Milo silently cursed himself.

* * *

"Katara, we've known each other for awhile now," Aang inhaled, "You were the first thing I saw after I got out of that iceberg, and you've been with me ever since. But now…"

"Aang, what are you getting at?" Katara eyed him skeptically.

"Katara, I… I… I love you!" Aang exclaimed.

"What?" Katara was taken aback.

"I said I love you!" Aang repeated, "And I don't want you to be with Zuko!"

"Aang…" the waterbender stared at her feet, "I'm sorry, but I can't see us being anything more than friends. You're like a brother to me. And Zuk-"

But he wouldn't let her finish her sentence. He turned away from her and stormed off.

* * *

"So… Things sure have been crazy lately, haven't they?" Fred observed.

"Yeah," Milo agreed, "Feels like forever since we've been home."

* * *

Aang stomped away from Katara. Her and Zuko, her and Zuko, what was so great about Zuko anyway? Had Zuko gone penguin-sledding with her? Had Zuko tried to free her from the creeping crystal? Had Zuko brought her frozen frogs when she was sick? Had Zuko made her a new necklace when she lost her mother's? Had Zuko gone into the Avatar State when she was in danger? Had Zuko been there in the stupid love cave? Had Zuko been forced to give up all of his earthly attachments, only to discover that _she_ was the only thing that he truly cared for? Had Zuko endangered the world by not giving her up and, instead, rescuing her from the Crystal Catacombs? Well, had he? Aang stomped away from Katara- and right into Sokka.

"Hey, Aang, why the long face?" he asked.

"Katara said that I was like her brother!" Aang shouted.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sokka was outraged. But Aang wouldn't answer. He brushed past Sokka and kept on walking.

* * *

Mai leaned against Jet in silence. She would have been content to stay there forever, but…

"You know, one of us will have to lose," Jet broke the silence.

"Don't worry," Mai was disappointed, but smirked regardless, "When Zuko and I win, I'll make sure he doesn't lose control."

"When you and Zuko win?" Jet raised an eyebrow, "Well, when me and Toph win, I won't make you do anything too crazy. Can't make the same guarantee for poor Zuzu, though."

Mai nodded and the two went back to the way they had been before.

* * *

"Sokka! Have you seen Aang?" Katara rushed forward urgently.

"Yeah, not too long ago," Sokka nodded, "He didn't look too happy. Something happen?"

"I need to get to him before he does anything stupid," Katara shook her head and ran off.

* * *

Aang walked by and Momo picked his head up. Something was wrong, he could sense it, being a lemur and having animal instincts and whatnot. As Appa roared and Aang comforted him, Momo had taken flight and was soon ready to follow the Avatar wherever he went.

"Katara, what's wrong?" Zuko stopped her.

"Aang," she gasped, "I think he's gone. I'm afraid he'll get himself into trouble."

"I'm sure Aang will be fine," Zuko shrugged, "He's the Avatar. Plus, he's a smart kid. What's the worst that could happen?"

* * *

Poon did not lead an exciting life. It had gotten a little better when the traitorous General Iroh had been placed under his guard in the Fire Nation Capital, but after he had escaped (with the help of his troublesome nephew), the warden had been discharged and sent to act as a police deputy of some dinky little town in the colonies. It sucked. He sighed. Every so often, a bounty hunter would bring in a criminal and make life interesting for a few fleeting moments, but those times were few and far between.

The wooden door creaked open and Poon glanced up. Some kid, probably about twelve or thirteen, stood there, staring him down.

"What is it, kid?" Poon grunted, "Lose a pet or something?"

The boy shook his head, "I know where to find a criminal."

"Yeah, sure," Poon scoffed.

"So you don't care whether or not you find former Prince Zuko?" the boy asked.

"Prince Zuko?" Poon straightened up.

The boy grinned as he told almost everything he knew.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Sorry if that was really confusing or just plain bad… I personally don't like this chapter, it just frustrated me so much. And for the record, I do feel bad for poor Aangy. Oh, well, the next one should be better…


	23. Truth, the New Element

**Author's Note**: Hey… My internet kind of died… I'm using a computer at the library, but… yeah… It could be awhile before I get the next chapter up, having no idea when it'll get fixed. Anyhoo, I was mildly surprised that 1.) people liked the chapter and 2.) nobody thought Aang would actually betray Zuko… But did he? (sorry, being evil) And oh yeah, when I wrote this I was resisting the heavy temptation to write Jetko… Maybe some other time…

**Disclaimer**: Dude, I don't even own this computer.

**To Avii**: Go ahead and use the names… Or you could go to (I think that's what it's called) and search there.

* * *

Berries. Zuko and Jet sighed in unison. Aang hadn't returned the previous night, Momo had gone missing as well, Katara was very worked up about it, Appa was hungry, Uncle Iroh was going through tea withdrawal, Mai was bored, Milo had suddenly developed an acute fear of Toph, Fred was feeling homesick, and Sokka was so blind to (or perhaps amused by) their hatred that he sent them both to fetch berries. God. Damn. Freaking. Berries.

At least they no longer spoke of the degree of their hatred. They no longer had to. It was now taken for granted.

_I hate you, Zuko._

_I hate you too, Jet._

_Gee, Hothead, do you really mean it?_

_Of course, Squirt, why wouldn't I?_

"Zuko?" Jet looked up.

"What is it?" Zuko mentally prepared himself for some jest at his expense.

Jet calmly placed his berry basket on the ground next to him before wheeling around and suddenly embracing Zuko with an enthusiastic "I love you, man!"

"What the- Jet-What?" Zuko couldn't hide that he was flustered, "Get off of me!"

"I see," Jet loosened his grip on Zuko, but still wouldn't let go completely, "So pretending to like you and giving you a hug really is more effective in freaking you out. Good to know."

"Jet…" Zuko groaned and removed Jet's arms from around his body, "You know… We might cover more ground if we split up."

"You know, you might be right," Jet shrugged, "I'll keep on over here. Why don't you look over there?"

"Fine," Zuko was just thankful for an opportunity to get away from Jet. He gathered his berries and walked in the direction Jet had indicated.

* * *

"Hey, Zuko?" Jet called. His berry basket was full, so he figured that Zuko should have returned. He was… not worried. Not worried about Zuko under any circumstances. Merely… vaguely concerned. "Come on now, if you're about to leap from the bushes and jump on me, it won't do you any good. We both know that it's only funny when I do it… Zuko? Just answer me already!" He looked at the ground in front of him. An overturned basket surrounded by berries, many of them crushed.

"Oh, no…" Jet whispered before snatching up the basket and running back to camp.

* * *

"Hey, it's Angry Jerk Number Two!" Sokka greeted Jet, "Great news! Aang came back while you were gone!"

"Wow, Sokka, that's great," Jet nodded absent-mindedly, "I need to talk to everyone at once."

* * *

"Zuko's been captured?" Katara asked, "Where do you think they took him?"

"Probably into town," Jet guessed, "There were signs of a struggle, so I think someone probably took him there to collect a bounty."

"Maybe they didn't take him," Aang proposed, "Maybe this all part of some elaborate prank."

"My nephew is usually not one to indulge in practical jokes," Iroh pointed out.

"I second that," Mai nodded, "But there's one thing I don't quite understand. If they found Zuko, why wouldn't they look for the rest of us? We're all pretty much considered criminals by the Fire Nation. Wouldn't they have thought that Iroh and I would be traveling with Zuko? Why capture one criminal when you can capture three?"

A look of realization spread over Katara's face. "Aang," she whispered, "Last night… Where did you go?"

"Why do you ask?" Aang was curious.

"Why do you not answer?" a dark edge had crept into Katara's voice, "Think about it. If Zuko weren't here…"

"Are you saying that _I_ did this?" Aang asked incredulously, "No way!"

"Then where were you?!" Katara pushed.

"I needed to think, so I went into the forest!" Aang shouted.

"He's telling the truth," Toph verified.

"And after that?" Katara pressed on. Aang made no response. "What? No answer? Gee, Aang, I know you're the Avatar, but I had no idea that truth was an element!"

Nobody moved or spoke for a few moments. After all, Katara had just accused the Avatar of betrayal. Aang stared at his feet as everyone stared at him.

"I have an idea," Milo broke the silence, "Momo went missing too, right? Maybe he followed Aang and he can tell us what happened!"

"Great, does anyone here speak lemur?" Toph sighed.

"Maybe Appa can figure it out!" Milo suggested.

"Are you hearing yourself?" Jet asked, "Because you sound clinically insane."

"Yes, clinically insane," Sokka nodded, "But maybe just clinically insane enough to work!"

"Please don't tell me we're going to…" Mai began.

"We're going to ask Momo and Appa what happened!" Sokka declared.

* * *

"All right, Appa, we need you to ask Momo if Aang went into town last night," Sokka explained, "It's really important, so don't screw around."

Appa grunted in response before asking Momo, "Mwrawr hmph?"

"Whermm? Squee squeem," Momo replied, "Mraw?"

"Hmph," Appa nodded, "Mwarm mhm."

"Squeeowh," Momo seemed to agree, "Werr."

"I don't think I can take much more of this," Mai moaned.

"She has a point," Sokka sighed impatiently, "Come on, you two, quit exchanging pleasantries! We haven't got all day!"

Appa gave a slightly irritated groan before continuing, "Mrasd sm, mwrawr thrr? Humph thri nthe yra?"

"Wee squwee," Momo shook his head.

"Well?" Sokka asked.

Appa shook his head.

"So that's a no?" Sokka asked.

Appa nodded.

"Thank God that's over with," Mai heaved a relieved sigh.

"Thanks buddy!" Aang gave Appa a hug.

"But it still doesn't resolve this side plot," Katara sighed.

"This what?" Toph asked.

"This problem," Katara repeated, "What, did I say something else?"

"I didn't hear it if you did," Jet shrugged, "But really, I think we need a reality check. Remember? Zuko? In the town jail? Getting him out?"

"Oh, right! Angry Jerk Number One!" Sokka exclaimed, "We'll get him next chapter!"

"The next what?" Toph and Milo asked in unison.

"I didn't say the next anything," Sokka looked puzzled, "I said this evening."

"I have this feeling that something strange is about to happen," Iroh prophesized.

"Something strange always seems to be happening since we came here," Fred observed.

"True," Iroh nodded. And there, the chapter ended.

* * *

**Author's Note**: The next chapter (whenever it gets posted) is utter nonsense, but it's fun…


	24. Pop Goes the Fourth Wall

**Author's Note**: Computer works again! Hooray! And for the record, I was really frustrated when I wrote this one...

**Disclaimer**: Do not own Avatar or The Andy Griffith Show... or Star Wars... or anything really...

* * *

It was evening. The rest of the day had been spent preparing for their adventure come sundown. Zuko, however, had no idea that they were coming to get him. He sat in his jail cell and sighed. And just when things were starting to look up a little more… It was like some sadistic teenage girl who tortured the characters that she liked the most was controlling his very existence and enjoying herself very much. First the tedium of high school, now this. He sighed once more.

* * *

"Hey, guys?" a thought suddenly occurred to Fred as the gang walked through the town, "How will we break Zuko out of jail?"

"Um…" Sokka (and indeed all of the others) hadn't really thought much about it, "I think we'll just go in there, kick butt, and… um… you know…"

"No, actually, I don't," Fred sighed, "I just can't shake off this feeling that something weird's about to happen… I mean weirder than usual…"

* * *

Zuko gave a third sigh. What now? A door opened. It was probably just the deputy, Poon. What a Barney Fife. He had never actually watched that show, but had heard enough to know the name of the overzealous, slightly dim-witted, small-town police officer. But there was something different this time. The tinkling of little bells. Zuko looked up.

On the other side of the bars stood a woman of smaller-than-average height, wearing simple dress, and holding an ornately carved stick. She eyed Zuko strangely and muttered, "Wow…"

After a brief moment, Zuko decided to ask, "What?"

"You look bored," the woman shrugged and revealed a feature that many would have considered unusual- a pair of transparent wings.

* * *

Aang let out a cry and put his hand to his head.

"What is it, Aang?" Katara asked.

"I sense…" the Avatar gasped for breath, "A disturbance in the fourth wall…"

"That's ridiculous!" Sokka let out a laugh, "We aren't allowed to break the fourth wall in this story!... Wait… I thought we couldn't…"

"We can't," Aang shook his head, "But I think the author just ran out of ideas…" Indeed, she had.

* * *

"So you're the _what_ fairy?" Zuko scratched his head.

"The Coincidence Fairy," the woman sighed, "And believe you me, I've been working overtime on this story…"

"So why can I see you now?" Zuko was curious.

"Because the fourth wall is broken. Simple as that," the Fairy shrugged again, "It happens every so often. The author gets frustrated when a story starts to go nowhere fast, and throws something at the fourth wall. In this case, a math book. Did some damage. It should take the rest of the chapter for the fourth wall to repair itself. After that, you won't remember any of this. In the meantime, I'm supposed to get you out of here."

"Great, how will you do that?" Zuko asked.

"Coincidence powers, activate!" the Coincidence Fairy waved her magic wand and the key suddenly appeared in the lock on the cell door, "Oops, looks like Poon left the keys in the door. BAR-ney!"

* * *

"So something broke the fourth wall, and now we can do whatever we want?" Jet grinned mischievously.

"Yeah, felt like a math book…" Aang rubbed his head.

"Great!" Jet let out a laugh, "Now, what to do first…?"

"Well," Iroh cleared his throat, "If I may take this opportunity to say so, I believe that my character has been tragically underused in the past few chapters." However, he needn't have worried, since he would get his fair share of epicness in by the end of the story.

"Same here," Fred waved at someone who she couldn't see, but knew was there, "I thought I was supposed to be the main character!" And she too would soon return to the spotlight after another chapter or so.

The author was soon overwhelmed by complaints from the characters.

* * *

"And who exactly are you?" Zuko asked the bewildered, mustached teenage boy who had suddenly appeared behind the sheriff's desk at about the same time as the Coincidence Fairy had waved her wand.

"M-My name is Haru," he panted, "What just happened?"

"My bad…" the Fairy grinned sheepishly, "Just an Improbability Factor, rapid decrease in entropy, whatever, about twenty different people, many of them authors, have tried to figure it out, but no one really knows. A random occurrence that just happens sometimes when I get involved. Now come on. You need to somehow know exactly where your friends are standing. Mustache Boy, you may as well come too."

* * *

"All right, I think we got distracted…" Katara pointed out to her fellow complaining characters.

"Yeah, busting Zuzu out…" Jet nodded, "Still gotta do that."

"No problem," Zuko, Haru, and the Coincidence Fairy approached the group.

"Zuko!" Katara ran forward and hugged her boyfriend, "And… Haru? What are you doing here?"

"An improbable, entropy coincidence thingy…" Haru's voice trailed off.

"All right, guys, not too much longer until you forget everything that happened in this chapter!" the Coincidence Fairy clapped her hands, "Hurry up and say whatever you want while you still can!"

"And who are you?" Jet asked, "Some kind of stupid fairy spreading cheer to this fictional world?"

"Hey, I'm the Coincidence Fairy and don't push me!" the Fairy huffed, "I could make your life pretty miserable…"

"Oh, yeah?" Jet scoffed, "And just how will you do that?"

"Well, let's see…" the Fairy hummed, "I _could_ tell everyone what you and your girlfriend do when the narration doesn't involve you…"

"What?!" Katara, Zuko, Aang, and Sokka gasped.

"Aw, come on!" Jet groaned, "We were only making out! I know I'm not the most standup guy and this story isn't G-rated anymore, but seriously, guys!"

"All right, time to resolve a loose plot thread," Aang pointed out, "If _I_ wasn't the one who ratted out Zuko, then who was that kid a few chapters back?"

"Just a random kid," the Coincidence Fairy explained, "He was hired by that bounty hunter guy… Don't ask why. It just built a little suspense."

"Wait, so we won't remember any of this later?" everyone had momentarily forgotten about Toph, but were reminded as she spoke for the first time in the entire chapter, "Great, then. Never Mind, it's your time to shine." She earthbended the ground beneath poor Milo and pushed him toward Fred, "Risk-free."

"What's going on?" Fred asked.

"Well," Milo coughed quietly, "Fred… I… Well, I kinda… maybe… sorta… Yeah, I, um… like you. Er, romantically…"

A simple "What?" was Fred's only response.

"Oh, man… 'What?' is your response? Just that?" Milo held his head in his hands, "That's not a good sign…"

Despite Fred's lack of absolute enthusiasm and Milo's chagrin, Jet gave a celebratory fist pump and Toph smirked as Zuko and Mai groaned.

"Well, I'm off," the Fairy shrugged, "The fourth wall is almost fixed, and I have other stories to visit. _Au revoir!_"

And at that moment, the last crack in the fourth wall (caused by the unfortunate math text) repaired itself, rendering the narrator unheard by the characters, the Coincidence Fairy invisible, and everyone else very, very confused.

"What just happened?" Zuko shook his head.

"Yeah, we didn't even get to try out my brilliant plan for breaking Zuko out!" Sokka groaned, "What's up with that?"

"I thought you didn't have a plan," Fred pointed out, "Hey, Milo? Did you say something?"

"No, I don't think so," Milo honestly believed that.

"I mean, really, the second I think of a plan…" Sokka continued grumbling.

"Hey, Haru, what are you doing here?" Katara asked.

"If I knew, I would tell you," Haru scratched his head, "I think I'll try to get back home…"

"Why does this always happen?!" Sokka shouted.

"Maybe some sort of coincidence fairy has an issue with you?" Zuko suggested.

"Ha! That's ridiculous!" Sokka laughed, "A coincidence fairy? Really, Zuko- Ow! Something just hit me in the back of the head!"

"Non-believer," Katara muttered.

"So… Who wants to go back?" Toph asked. The decision was unanimous. They all returned to the camp.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Now _that_ was fun to write…


	25. Messages

**Author's Note**: Probably should have ended on a high note buut… Sorry this is so late, I've had a lot of homework, other stories are distracting me, the two chapters I have left to write are evil, and I'm beginning to lose my resolve… Anyhoo, I just wrote a paragraph, so I'm happy. Oh, and about the Jetko… As amazingly wonderful as the pairing is, this story won't have any… I meant that I would write another story absolutely filled with really slashy moments… or maybe just hinting…

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Avatar… or Twilight. Or… what's Sango from? Is that one InuYasha? Sorry, I'm anime-deprived…

* * *

Sangok shivered, mainly because the area around the North Pole was just plain freezing, but partly because he was scared. He stepped slowly and solemnly through the Northern Water Tribe's Spirit Oasis. The spirits aided and protected his people. He knew that. Princess Yue had died becoming a spirit for the good of the tribe. He knew that too. What Yue had done was a truly noble thing and she should be honored for all time. He knew that as well. He didn't care for his people quite enough to die for them, no matter how much he would be honored, he wasn't really quite that brave. Sure as hell he knew that.

And his friends knew that too. Sangok was only walking through the Spirit Oasis (at night, no less) because they triple-polar-bear-dog-dared him. And no one turned down a triple-polar-bear-dog-dare. Ever.

Sangok sighed as he looked up at the full moon through the cracks in the ceiling. How did he always end up doing this sort of thing?

"Excuse me?" a voice called. Sangok started.

An ethereal being floated above the pond in the center of the oasis. She looked at Sangok earnestly as he stuttered.

"P-P-P-Princess Y-Yue!" he gasped, "Y-you're…"

"Here, I know," Yue smiled benevolently, "I just wish I could remember your name… Samok? Sango?"

"S-Sangok…"

"Right, Sangok, of course!" Yue continued, "I'm sorry, I've forgotten quite a few things since my time in your world. Now, as to why I came back.

"The Fire Nation seeks to conquer all, destroying anyone and anything that gets in the way. Sozin's Comet is approaching quickly. I don't think those outside of the Spirit World have any idea that the comet is coming in only a few weeks' time. Even Avatar Aang may be in the dark. If the Fire Nation succeeds in their goals, it won't be just your world that suffers.

"Now, Sangok, listen carefully to what I have to say here tonight. It could decide the fate of all the worlds."

Sangok gulped. He really didn't do too well under pressure.

* * *

"I spy with my little eye," Milo tried to concentrate, "Something… green."

"Good for you," Toph sighed.

After the odd incident in the last town, there were a few slow days. Iroh deemed Aang's breathing technique sufficient and lessons moved on to include the fundamentals of flame generation and control. Zuko occasionally joined them, as he was out of practice. Jet busied himself by watching firebending practice, jeering whenever Zuko made even the smallest mistake. Fred also watched the firebenders at work, silencing Jet when he got out of hand. Sokka was constantly doing something indeterminate that seemed to involve a lot of rearranging supplies by category, alphabetically, by container size, especially whenever Milo tried to start a rousing game of I Spy. Katara and Mai often discussed the concept of double-dating.

"I still don't think the guys will go for it," Katara shook her head.

"Trust me, they're much friendlier than they used to be," Mai smirked, "Give it another week and they might actually be open to the idea."

At that precise moment, Zuko's foot slipped on a patch of wet grass and he lost control of the flame he was holding. Iroh quickly extinguished a tree branch as Jet fell backwards laughing, unable to stop even after Zuko threatened to do unspeakable things to him.

"Maybe two weeks," Mai grimaced.

Sadly, the point of whether or not Toph _wanted_ to play was moot. Milo sighed and gave up.

"Then again, where would we go?" Mai wondered.

"Shut up, Jet!" Fred groaned.

"Good point," Katara nodded, "The four of us _are_ fugitives."

"I'm sorry, it's just too funny!" Jet hooted.

"Really, even if I could see…" Toph muttered.

"Unspeakable things, Jet, unspeakable things!" Zuko fumed.

"Hawky!" Sokka cheered.

"What?" everyone else turned around. Indeed, Sokka's beloved Hawky was coming in for a landing.

"But we sent Hawky to the Bei Fongs," Katara whispered, "He was never supposed to return…"

The bird landed on Sokka's arm as the boy fussed over the bird, "You've returned! I've missed you so much! Who's a good bird? Who's a good bird?"

"All right, that's kind of creepy…" Zuko stopped threatening Jet (who merely continued to laugh) for a moment.

"You got a message, Hawky? You got a message?" Sokka paid them no mind.

"Why is he talking like that?" Mai whispered to Katara. The other girl shrugged.

Sokka removed two papers from the tube Hawky carried, "One from the Bei Fong family and the other…"

"My parents actually returned the letter?" Toph was stunned.

"Where's the other one from?" Katara asked.

"The Northern Water Tribe," Sokka read aloud, "Urgently requests the presence of the Avatar and his friends in discussing a matter of great importance regarding the war against the Fire Nation."

"Looks like we're going back to the North Pole," Aang shrugged.

"But how…?" Katara wondered, "Forget it, I don't want to know."

"So what did my parents write?" Toph asked. Sokka handed her the letter. "Oh," she sighed, "Really helpful."

Seeing that his job was done, Hawky squawked and flew away, never to be seen or heard from again.

"Hawky!" Sokka screamed, "No! Come back to me!!"

Jet, who had just recovered from his hysterics, began to laugh once more.

* * *

"You admit you were wrong?"

The tension in the garden of the Fire Nation Royal Palace was suffocating. Ty Lee held her hands over her mouth as her eyes flashed between the two adversaries. Azula stood on one side of the garden, smiling matter-of-factly, as she knew the answer to her question. Jun faced her, glaring defiantly and clutching _Twilight_ tightly.

"Perhaps," she started slowly as she held the book still tighter, "This Edward might be… someone I wouldn't immediately dismiss…"

"No one will think less of you," Azula pointed out.

"Fine," Jun spat, "I love Edward too!"

"Welcome to the club, then," the princess inwardly reveled in her victory.

Jun started to make a retort, but was interrupted by a low tremble of the earth. The water in the pond shook and for some bizarre reason, Ty Lee thought there might be a giant, carnivorous reptile rampaging nearby.

"W-Wh-What was _that_?" Ty Lee gasped.

"It sounded like it came from underground," Jun tried to regain her composure.

"The Dragonbone Catacombs," Azula said thoughtfully, "Just a fairy tale, but maybe…"

"Maybe what?" Ty Lee inquired.

"Girls," Azula announced, "We're staying here at the palace."

"What?" Jun's brow furrowed, "What about Nyla? She doesn't like it here."

"It isn't _my_ fault that your furry beast doesn't know a good thing when it sees it," Azula snapped, "And don't worry, you'll get your precious money. No… The Avatar will soon come to us of his own accord. And where the Avatar goes, my brother and uncle always seem to follow."


	26. Insert Chapter Title Here

**Author's Note**: It's been like a month since I've updated this, hasn't it? Well, I still need to write the evil two remaining chapters and the past two weeks have been… hectic. Well, that's my excuse anyway…

**Le ****Code de l'Honeur**: Je n'ai ni donné ni reçu de l'aide dans cet examen... Oh, wait, this isn't a French test? Never mind, then…

* * *

The trip to the North Pole was, in a word, boring. Toph was pleased to hear that, although her parents hadn't truly accepted her, they had realized that their plans for a perfect daughter had backfired completely and that there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. She finally was allowed to travel with the Avatar and his friends, but was encouraged to return to Gaoling at some point to tell her parents about her adventures (and perhaps shed some light on the mysterious disappearances of Master Yu and Xin Fu).

Well, Toph was mostly pleased. She had only one complaint:

"But now this isn't nearly as much fun."

The group visited Teo and the Mechanist at the Northern Air Temple, but nothing particularly special happened there.

As Appa flew farther north, the air got colder. It really wasn't much of a problem for a group armed with parkas, thick fur, and firebending. Except, of course, for Jet…

"I'd rather freeze to death," he proclaimed, "than keep warm using someone's firebending."

"Suit yourself," Mai shrugged as she sat close to Iroh.

A wintry blast of air hit Appa and Jet shivered violently.

"Rather freeze to death," he reiterated.

"I'd rather watch Jet freeze to death," Zuko rolled his eyes, "than have him cuddle with me." Katara stifled a laugh as she pulled closer to Zuko.

"Move aside, Sugar Queen," Toph huffed, "Me and Never Mind need to keep warm too."

"Everyone needs to keep warm," Aang crouched around a small flame he had conjured, "You know, except for Jet."

"Fine," Jet sulked, "Go ahead. Put me down. But you'll see, I'll get through this just fine."

* * *

Appa swam lazily through the icy waters. The Northern Water Tribe was close. Aang scanned the horizon for the turreted ice wall.

"Can't you find this place any, any," Jet paused to sneeze, "Any faster?"

"Appa's tired," Aang pointed out, "You feel like carrying us there?"

"This brings back memories," Sokka sighed nostalgically, "Mainly bad ones, but memories all the same."

"Are you feeling all right, Jet?" Mai asked.

"Just fine," Jet insisted, "I'm just… just… Achoo! Sneezing a lot…"

"No, you aren't," Mai put her hand to his forehead, "You're officially sick."

"You should've tried warming up to me when you had the chance," Zuko seemed to momentarily borrow all of Sokka, Toph, and Mai's sarcasm, "Too bad I realized that I could do better. No offense, Mai."

She merely sighed, "Would it really be too much to expect-?"

"There it is!" Aang interrupted, "The Northern Water Tribe!"

The giant ice wall adorned with the Water Tribe's crest loomed before them. The sentinels recognized Appa, nodded to each other, and opened the gates.

"Welcome, Avatar Aang!" Chief Arnook greeted them as Appa swam into the city, "Katara and Sokka! And… I see your group has expanded…"

"Sure has!" Aang exclaimed as he dismounted, "This is Toph, Zuko, Mai, Sifu Iroh, Jet, and, uh… Zhuo and Ginta."

"You mean _Prince_ Zuko and _General_ Iroh of the Fire Nation?" Arnook was apprehensive.

"It's all good," Sokka grinned, "They're on our side now."

"Although your suspicion is not unwarranted," Iroh bowed as he carefully climbed down Appa's side.

"It's cold!" Toph shrieked as her foot made contact with the ice.

"Oops! Forgot!" Sokka exclaimed as grabbed Toph off of the ground, "Ice roads, I carry you if you want."

"Why not?" Toph rolled her eyes as her face flushed slightly.

"Well, come," the chief waved, "Everything will be explained to you at my house."

Team Avatar's general consensus was to shrug and follow the northern chief.

"Hey, um… Northern Water Chief Guy?" Jet asked awkwardly as he walked, "Do you happen to-" A sneeze. "Have a-" Another sneeze. "Spare parka or something?" Zuko snorted. "When I said I'd rather freeze to death-" Yet another sneeze. "I didn't actually want to freeze to death."

Arnook gave his apologies, but Jet was on his own. He sullenly trudged the rest of the way to the chief's temple, occasionally sneezing. On their arrival, Arnook directed them to a small, near-empty room. A vaguely familiar teenage boy was curled up uncomfortably in the corner.

"All right, Sangok," Arnook smiled warmly, "Just tell them what you told me."

Sangok looked up and did a double-take when he saw Katara, "Y-You never said she would be here…"

"Is that a problem?" Arnook scratched his head.

"You don't have to be afraid of me anymore," Katara rolled her eyes, "Our waterbending spars are over and done with."

"Y-You gave me nightmares…" Sangok admitted, "Horrible, horrible nightmares about being frozen in ice fifty feet off the ground… And nobody wanted to help me…"

"Sangok, I had to duel her too," Aang pointed out.

"Nobody ever wanted to help me," Sangok repeated.

"Fine, I'll leave," Katara sighed, "Tell me what happens."

"And the ice encasing my body slowly absorbs my body heat as I inch toward imminent death," Sangok continued regardless.

"Get to the point," Zuko snapped.

"About a week ago," the boy jolted to attention, "I went to the Spirit Oasis… At night… Alone… Triple-polar-bear-dog-dare, you know?"

"Oh, I know," Sokka laughed knowingly.

"Go on," Zuko urged.

"Well, I went in there, and… and…" Sangok seemed unable to continue.

"And?" Zuko prompted.

"And I saw…" A dark look crossed the fire prince's face. "Yue! I saw Princess Yue!"

"Yue?" Sokka nearly dropped Toph, much to her chagrin.

"Yeah, Princess Yue!" Sangok blurted out, "She says Sozin's Comet's coming in a few weeks! But there's a way to stop it!"

A moment of stunned silence. "Stopping a comet?" Fred was skeptical, "Is that… possible?"

"She said so," Sangok nodded as he reached into his parka, "I'm not sure how it works, but she gave me this." He produced an orb from his pocket. "She called it the Sacred Crystal Orb or something. Fell into the Spirit World ages ago, something about a ritual and some Earth Kingdom tribes… There's apparently a shrine in the… Dragonbone Catacombs, was it? And it goes there on the day of the comet and whoever places it on the shrine shouts-"

"Redemption?" Milo shrugged.

"How did you know?" Sangok leaped back.

"Lucky guess," Milo sighed.

"Something about other worlds too," Sangok shifted uncomfortably, "The comet could give the Fire Nation the power to reach there too… I'm not sure about that though."

But the others were sure, even if they didn't show it.

"Well, that's it," Sangok squirmed some more, "May I go now?"

Aang gently took the orb from Sangok. Arnook nodded in consent and the young waterbender ran off to play ice marbles or shirk lessons or otherwise enjoy his life.

"My mother used to tell a story kind of like that," Zuko scratched his head, "I forget how it goes though…"

"But how exactly does that stop the comet?" Fred asked.

"Weird stuff happens," Sokka suggested, "You'll learn to just accept it soon."

"Can we just go?" Jet unleashed the sneeze he had been holding in.

"To the Fire Nation, yeah, sure," Zuko pointed out, "That's where the Dragonbone Catacombs are, under the Royal Palace."

"Fire Nation?" Jet sneezed, "Never thought I'd actually be going there…"

* * *

**A/N**: And now to write that next chapter… I can't read any more manga until I do…


	27. The Plan

**Author's Note**: Okay, I need to get off of my lazy ass and post now. The chapter kinda sucks, you guys deserve more after waiting so long, I blame Max. All his fault... And if by some random chance, Max is reading this... Um... Hi?

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing!

* * *

The few weeks preceding the comet that Yue had prophesized passed all too quickly. Aang practiced his arrow off once again, and was deemed by Iroh to be at least an adequate firebender. Sokka spent much of the time drafting a plan of attack, often aided (and criticized) by Jet, who had been blessed once more with a clear sinus. Outside of that, Mai sharpened her daggers, Milo said "never mind" a lot, Katara was Katara, Toph was Toph, Momo sat around looking as adorable as could be, and Appa flew them all to the Fire Nation Capital, the same as usual.

On the predestined day, Appa flew into the capital and miraculously, nobody noticed the giant… flying… bison… with an arrow… Please, just go with it, before the Coincidence Fairy makes a return appearance and torments Sokka for being a non-believer before he can reveal his amazing plan to deliver the Sacred Spirit Orb to the shrine. Yeah.

"All right, here's the plan," Sokka explained excitedly, "We need someone who can run fast and deliver the orb. Fred fits the bill. So-"

"What?" Fred interrupted, "You're really making this my job?"

"Well, Aang could use his airbending and run faster, but he's needed elsewhere," Sokka explained, "May I continue?"

"But what if I screw up?" Fred persisted.

"Then we're all screwed," Sokka heaved an irritated sigh, "Now, as I was saying, Zuko opens the Dragonbone Catacombs and Fred delivers the orb. Toph, Jet, and Mai go with Fred in case she runs into trouble. Then Aang has to confront the Firelord and… yeah, everyone else'll back him up."

"So I'm with Aang?" Milo asked.

"Uh… no," Sokka admitted. "We need you for something very important. I mean, without you, this whole plan falls apart."

"What do I do?" Milo looked forward to the task.

"Watch Momo and Appa out here," Sokka commanded. The last of Milo's self-confidence and pride found a nice little to corner in which it could curl up and die.

"You make it sound so easy," Zuko observed.

"Yeah, it's a gift," Sokka declared, "So let's do this!"

* * *

"Hey, Azula?" Ty Lee whispered. "Why are we in the Dragonbone Catacombs?"

"You know, that's actually a good question," Jun commented. "A first time for everything, I guess."

"Sozin's Comet comes today," Azula explained. "And you both saw that altar that just appeared a few weeks back. I've shared my theory with Father and he agrees with me. We have to patrol down here in case anything happens."

* * *

"You'd think they actually guard this place," Jet commented as he strolled behind the others. "What's the big hurry? We have plenty of time to get there before the comet. We would only have to run if someone started chasing us, which doesn't seem likely."

"Well, there's always a chance that-" Mai started to explain. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by the crackling of blue lightning.

"Well, well," Azula observed. "Look what we have here."

"Okay, now I see the big hurry," Jet sighed. "You guys go ahead. I'll take care of these three."

"You sure?" Mai called over her shoulder.

"Positive," Jet gave a smirky little grin. He drew his swords as his friends rounded the corner. "Go ahead and bring it."

Azula and Ty Lee stood back and watched as Jun and her whip went ahead and brought it.

* * *

"Is it really this easy?" Zuko still had his doubts as walked behind Aang with Iroh, Katara, and Sokka.

"Shh!" Sokka hushed him. "Don't wanna jinx it!"

"Hey! You people over there!" a man who had just entered the hallway shouted. "You aren't supposed to be here!"

"See? What did I just say? You jinxed it!" Sokka groaned.

"It's just one guy," Zuko pointed out. "We can take him."  
The one guy suddenly called up about fifty of his friends.

* * *

Lightning flashed off the catacomb walls.

"Azula's coming up fast!" Toph announced.

"Figured that out already," Mai muttered, "You two keep going. I can hold her off."

Mai stopped in her tracks as Fred and Toph went on. The lightning ceased almost instantly.

"So, traitor," Azula called, "You came back."

"That's right," Mai smirked.

* * *

"Hello?" Aang called as he entered the throne room, "Firelord Ozai? Your reign of tyranny is about to end!"

The room seemed to be empty. No one sat on the throne, the doors had been open and unguarded, the flames that were usually inexplicably blazing on the opposite wall were extinguished. Aang looked around him.

"Guess he's not here…" he muttered before being struck on the back of the head by an unidentified blunt instrument. The Firelord had anticipated the Avatar's arrival and waited behind the door.  
"So much for the Avatar…" he muttered.

* * *

"There's still one following us closely!" Toph shouted, "It's the freakin' acrobat!"

Fred merely nodded to indicate that she had heard. She just had to keep going…

Ty Lee cartwheeled into view behind them, gaining quickly.

"Listen," Toph sighed, "The shrine isn't too far from here. Just run to the end of this hall and, take a left, go through the metal door about halfway down, and it should be right in front of you. I'll take care of the circus girl and meet you there. Good luck."

Toph stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face Ty Lee. She took a deep breath and slid her foot against the ground. The two girls had an epic battle of earthbending and acrobatics which is, for the most part, completely hopeless to even attempt to describe. Ty Lee, wearing out and desperate to end it, flipped into the air and landed behind Toph. The earthbender couldn't react quickly enough and felt one of her pressure points struck as she fell to the ground unconscious.

But she didn't hit the ground. Ty Lee held the other girl's body up, whispering, "I'm sorry, I had to."

* * *

"Well, they never let me do anything," Milo tried to explain, "I mean, I know there's a good reason for that, I'd probably just mess up, but… You know where I'm coming from?"

Momo tilted his head as Appa grunted, wondering what appalling deed he had committed to build up enough bad karma to end up listening to some kid spilling out his life story with little to no warning. So maybe he wasn't the best therapist…

"And then I get the feeling that the others don't really like me much," Milo went on, "I end up not sleeping some nights because I'm afraid Mai might sneak up on me with one of her daggers… It's a bit ridiculous, I know, she probably wouldn't actually hurt me, but…"  
Appa groaned again. He wished for something to put him out of his misery. Anything.

"And then, there's Fred…" it just seemed to have no end. Momo perked up for a moment and flew away. Fortunate lemur, the bison thought. Milo sighed just seconds before Appa's wish was granted. Jun's shirshu, Nyla, came running towards them, pursued by Fire Nation soldiers. Her restlessness had finally taken over her. Her tongue lashed about, striking at soldiers, turtle ducks, Appa, Milo…

* * *

Running… running… running… Fred couldn't stop running. She had to deliver the orb and stop Sozin's Comet to end this madness. She slammed a metal door behind her. Maybe it would slow them down… Maybe it wouldn't. Either way, she couldn't take a break. The door flew open with a clatter. So it didn't help much… She kept running, risking a quick glance behind her. Only Azula was left. It was somewhat fitting, considering that she was the last of her group standing to the best of her knowledge… Toph, Jet, Mai… She wouldn't fail them. Fred had found the room with the shrine, the goal of her mission. It was empty, to her pleasure. She ran faster… better to go quickly now.

"Stop right there!" Azula shouted, "You know it's pointless!"

But the really pointless thing was telling her to stop. She would only run faster. Only a few more feet… Almost there… And then…

Azula aimed and fired a lightning bolt. It hit its mark perfectly. Fred was struck in the leg and collapsed, dropping the package containing the orb. The glass shattered as Fred fell on top of it, spreading an eerie, otherworldly light over her as her world went black.

"It's over," Azula smiled coldly and prepared another lightning bolt, this one for the kill. She aimed at the sitting duck.

"Squeem!" Momo conveniently chose that precise moment to fly in. He attached himself to Azula's face and began scratching.  
"Get off of me!" Azula shrieked as her lightning bolt misfired completely, "Guards!"

As the guards heeded Azula's call, Momo thought it prudent to oblige her and fly away.

"Yes, Princess?" a guard asked. Azula lowered her head angrily and pointed to the unconscious Fred.

"Take her away," Azula told the guards before storming off to her bedroom.

* * *

**A/N**: Again, sorry this took so long. Hopefully not everyone has given up on me...


	28. Darkness

**Author's Note**: See? That didn't take so so long… Next chapter will probably take forever though. So have a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yule/Two-or-Three-Weeks-off-from-School/Um-Yeah…

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing.

* * *

"Wh-what just happened?" Fred awoke groggily. Darkness surrounded her and her right leg was completely numb. She tried to sit up, but her head throbbed. She fell back to the ground, wondering where she was and how she had gotten there

"Fred?" a vaguely familiar voice called from the darkness, "That you?"

"Yeah…" Fred answered, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Jet," the voice went on, "So you're here too… I think we have the cell to ourselves. But that's not important right now. So… Did we win?" In retrospect, Jet would think it was a stupid question.

It all came back to her. The Sacred Crystal Orb. The Dragonbone Catacombs. The running. Azula. "Oh, no…"

"That's not reassuring," Jet muttered, "How did it go?"

"The orb… broke…" Fred admitted.

"So we're screwed?" Jet groaned, "At least we tried… What about before the orb broke, what happened to Mai?"

"She fought Azula, after that, I don't know," Fred tried to sit up again, slowly this time. She laid her hand on her injured leg, discovering that someone had attempted to bandage it, "Hey, Jet? Any idea who bound up my leg?"

"I don't know," Jet said, "But whoever it was, he tried to fix up my arm too. Nice gesture, I guess, before they kill us. The feeling's just starting to come back now… Ow…"

"Oh," a new voice spoke, "Is it wearing off? If you want, I can numb again for you."

A lantern light illuminated the cell. Fred and Jet had been completely unaware that they were sitting right next to each other. A girl held the lantern in one hand and a tray of food in the other. Her wide eyes occasionally darted behind her, anxious of the guards who would not hesitate to inform the princess of what she was doing. She laid the food at the cell door and smiled faintly.

"You're Ty Lee, aren't you?" Fred asked.

Ty Lee nodded, "I'm sorry about what's been going on, I never wanted to hurt anyone… I've been trying to help you. I know I'm not really a healer, but I figured that I couldn't do any harm. So if you want it numb again, I could just tap a few pressure points-"

"If you really wanna help us," Jet interrupted, "Try letting us out of this cell."

"No," Ty Lee lowered her head, "I-I couldn't do that… I don't want to hurt anyone, but… that would be treason. But no matter what I do- It's complicated, okay?"

"Well, _I_ think things would be much less complicated if you just let us out," Jet suggested. Fred punched him in the arm (his bad arm, incidentally). "Can't blame me for trying," he muttered.

"So, do you want me to numb it?" Ty Lee asked again.

"Nah," Jet shrugged, "I can deal with the pain."

"I'm still fine," Fred tried to smile, "But could you answer a few questions for me?"

"Sure," Ty Lee beamed, "What do you want to know?"

"How many of us did you capture?" Fred asked.

"Let's see… We got Zuko, the Water Tribe cutie, the Avatar, General Iroh, the blind earthbender, the waterbending girl, you two, the bison, and your friend outside… And Mai, I'm pretty sure."

"At least Momo is safe," Fred muttered.

"Where's Mai?" Jet asked, "Is she all right?"

"I don't know," Ty Lee admitted, "I asked Azula, but she wouldn't tell me. Is that all?"

Fred and Jet both nodded and Ty Lee left them in the darkness once more.

* * *

Toph was surrounded by nothingness. But that wasn't so unusual for her. She calmly put her feet on the floor of her cell to get her bearings. She felt the smooth floor but that was all. Strange… She tried again. Still nothing. She kicked against the wall. It was wood. She gave a frustrated scream. The whole thing was made of wood.

"Hello?" she called out, "Anybody there? Tea Man? Twinkle Toes? Sugar Queen? Snoozles? Hothead? Squirt? Dagger Eyes? _Anybody?_... Never Mind?"

She kicked the wooden wall one last time before lapsing into silence.

* * *

"Hello?" Katara called out into her small, shadowy cell, "Anybody here?"

"Yeah," Zuko's voice responded, "I think we're the only ones here."

"Wonder why they threw us together," Katara wondered out loud, "I mean, I'm definitely not complaining, but you think they would…"

"Know?" Zuko finished her sentence for her, "I don't think they do… I mean, last time we got thrown in prison together, I betrayed everyone and, well, you know…"

"So they think we'll kill each other this time?" Katara laughed, "How about we prove them wrong?"

* * *

Iroh heaved a heavy sigh. He was in a jail cell once again. And he almost could have sworn it was the exact same one. But he had company this time around.

Sokka sat brooding in the corner. He couldn't believe that his plan had failed. Stupid Azula… Why did she always have to screw everything up? He knew it was up to him to come up with an escape plan, but he didn't feel quite up to it.

And poor Milo. The shirshu had not been kind to him. He had been unconscious since he had been brought to the cell. Someone had attempted to bandage the claw wounds on his arm, but they obviously weren't very skilled. Iroh had tried to do a slightly better job of it.

Sokka summarized the entire situation quite nicely, "Well, this sucks."

* * *

Azula stared out her bedroom window. Victory was so close that she could almost touch it. But not quite. First, the comet had to come. And even then, victory technically wasn't hers, it was her father's. But soon enough, the throne would be hers and she would control all.

The door opened behind her. She didn't turn around. Only two people would dare come in without knocking: Jun and Ty Lee. She heard two enter the room.

"It's all done," Jun smirked, "You've captured your traitors, so I think it's about time that we negotiate my payment."

"Not until I discharge you," Azula insisted, "Besides, there's one more that needs to be exterminated."

"Who?" Jun and Ty Lee both asked.

"The Avatar's lemur," Azula stated solemnly.

"You must be joking," Jun laughed.

"Is _this_ a laughing matter?" Azula turned around. Red lines, recently scratched out, some still bleeding, crisscrossed her face. Ty Lee covered her gaping mouth.

"That flying rat did this to me," Azula sulked, "I will be avenged."

"Fine, whatever," Jun sighed as she left, "As long as I get paid."

"I think I'll go visit our prisoners," Azula moved to the door, "Are you coming with me, Ty Lee?"

"No thanks," Ty Lee shook her head.

* * *

The prisoner, sprawled on the ground, shielded her eyes from the sudden stream of light that invaded her cell. A few ominous footsteps echoed as Princess Azula approached.

"So, having fun in there?" the princess smirked.

No response.

"You knew it was coming," Azula continued, "It was decided the day you betrayed me. And from here on out, things will be very rough for you. I can personally guarantee it."

"Do what you want with me," Mai sighed, unmoving, partially from pain, partially from unwillingness to admit defeat, "I don't care."

"Oh, you will," Azula let out a giggle, "Because you'll be the last to fall. Let me explain what I'll do.

"I think I'll start with the blind brat. She'll be tortured until she breaks, then killed. Then the others: the Avatar, the moron with the boomerang, the Water Tribe bitch, the two pests from that other place, my foolish uncle. Then Zuzu, I think… That should be interesting to watch, shouldn't it?

"You will be forced to watch each and every one of them reach the limit of their endurance and break down, and then, one you think it's finally over, you'll remember that there's one more. Then again, that silly little Earth Kingdom peasant boy has had this coming to him for a long time…"

"Don't you dare hurt Jet!" Mai bolted up and winced in pain.

"So Jet is his name…" Azula reflected, "Oh, well, it doesn't matter. You can't escape it. And soon, you'll be begging for mercy, wishing you had never even thought of leaving my side."

With that, the princess strode off to let the prisoner contemplate what she had done.

* * *

Ty Lee sat on top of Azula's bed and sighed. Everything was such a mess. For a moment, she wished that she _had_ let those two prisoners out. But only for a moment. She knew something bad was about to happen to him, the way Azula was so pleased when she heard how he whispered Mai's name in his sleep…

"Squeewoh," something stirred under the bed. Ty Lee jumped up to look. A creature scurried out into the center of the room and eyed her curiously.

"Hey," Ty Lee cooed, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." She moved closer to it, "You're the Avatar's pet lemur, aren't you?" She bent down and scratched Momo behind the ears. "Aw, you're so adorable!" she giggled, "How could a little cutie like you hurt anyone?"

Momo hopped onto Ty Lee's shoulder. She laughed, "All right, you can stay with me. But you have to hide if Azula shows up, okay?"

Momo looked back at Ty Lee uncomprehendingly, but she didn't realize that. She scratched Momo behind the ears once more and sat on the bed again.


	29. A Light Shines Through

**Author's Note**: Hey everybody! The good news is, I finished writing! The bad news is, my computer is broken! So, yeah... This is the next-to-last chapter, but it's really rushed and chaotic, so... So I'll just get on with it. R&R please! ^_~

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Avatar.

* * *

Ty Lee sighed as she put some bread on a tray for the group of three prisoners. As an afterthought, she quickly made a cup of tea for General Iroh. She needed to ask him a few questions anyway, so she figured that she may as well get on his good side.

Momo was content to sit on Ty Lee's shoulder, prepared to fly at a moment's notice. The fact that he was regularly scratched behind the ears may have had something to do with it…

She carried the tray to Iroh's cell. The old man looked up as the bread and tea was placed in front of him. Sokka scrambled to the front of the cell and snatched the bread, eating half of it before remembering that he had two cellmates to share with. He gingerly placed the remaining bread back on the tray and crawled back.

"Try the tea," Ty Lee urged, "I made it myself."

Iroh took a sip and grimaced, "Perhaps you should pursue other things in life."

"Careful, it might be poisoned," Sokka pointed out.

"It isn't," Ty Lee stared at the ground, "I swear it isn't. Actually, General Iroh, I wanted to talk to you about something…"

"What is it?" Iroh asked.

"Um… Well… First, how is everyone feeling?"

"Milo has slept for a long time," Iroh sighed, "The wound is closed now, though. He should be fine."

"My hopes and dreams have all died, that's all," Sokka huffed.

"Well, uh, General Iroh? I need some advice… I have…. a friend and she's having a disagreement with another friend."

"I see," Iroh nodded. "Difficulties do occasionally arise between good friends."

"Well my friend… Kurai is her name… Well, her friend, uh, is getting really close to another girl and kind of ignoring her…"

"Kurai should not let jealousy tarnish her relationship," Iroh pointed out.

"I know," Ty Lee sighed. "Kurai knows that too… But it isn't really jealousy. I- um, Kurai says it isn't. This other girl isn't really a friend, but Kurai feels like her friend is dumping her. She's also trying to make Kurai… um, do things she doesn't want to…"

"Peer pressure can be a powerful force," Iroh observed.

"Don't do drugs, kids," Milo muttered in his sleep, to the confusion of all.

"It seems to me that Kurai must decide if this friend is really a friend at all," Iroh concluded. "Is that all?"

"Yes," Ty Lee bowed. "Thank you, General Iroh."

* * *

"We have to go give food to the Avatar now," Ty Lee explained to Momo. "Remember, no misbehaving."

Momo understood… almost… kinda… Wait, did that mean he wasn't supposed to…?

Still, his lemur-conscience wasn't bothered by it too much.

* * *

"Iroh…" Sokka said. "Did the acrobat mean to leave the keys in the cell door? I mean, I won't really question it, but…"

* * *

"Avatar! Wait!" Ty Lee called as she cartwheeled after Aang and Momo. "I just want to talk to you!"

The Avatar didn't even turn to look at her. Then again, what did she expect? Wait… The Avatar had gotten loose somehow. A certain lemur was most likely to blame. But then the other prisoners… Oh… Bad lemur. Well, the lemur had made up her mind for her. She had to join the Avatar. Azula had gone too far…

"Avatar! I want to join you! I'm sorry!" Ty Lee pleaded. "I know you probably don't want me, but…"

* * *

"So we're out," Sokka observed. "And we have the keys… So I guess we break out the others now… This feels a bit too coincidental, though…"

He shrugged before heaving the unconscious Milo over his shoulder and leaving the cell.

* * *

"They're escaping!" the soldier screamed. "The prisoners are escaping!"

"What?! How?!" Azula shrieked as she shot the messenger with a fireball.

"The Avatar's out?" Jun said. "Looks like you're at a disadvantage…"

"Well, you and your furry beast can get us out of this, I'm sure," Azula suddenly calmed down.

"Well, well, aren't we bipolar today?" Jun muttered. "But if you lose, I don't get paid…"

"We won't lose," Azula huffed. "The two of us, my father, the Fire Nation army, and Ty Lee of course… Losing would be impossible."

"Speaking of the Cheerful One," Jun said. "Have you seen her around lately?"

* * *

Zuko and Katara sat as far apart from each other as the cell would allow. Katara seemed to have developed a cough in the few hours she had been there and the rest of Zuko's face matched his scar in color.

"Were you two…? You! My sister?!" Sokka gaped. "No, wait, I can't think about that… Zuko, come with us; Katara, stay and heal."

"But why do I have to…?" Katara groaned. Because she was the only one who could. Iroh, the unconscious Milo, and Mai prepared to stay with her as Sokka, Zuko, and Toph accompanied Fred to the unguarded shrine and Jet and Ty Lee tailed Aang to the Firelord's throne room.

* * *

On one hand, it was much easier this time, without Azula and Ty Lee interfering. On the other hand, it was harder walking with Zuko supporting half of her weight. Regardless, she managed.

"Redemption!" Fred shouted as she slammed her hands down on the altar. An orange light shined from the altar and spread over all.

"So that's that, I guess," Sokka shrugged as Fred panted.

"Yeah, that's that," Zuko smiled.

"Easy for you to say," Fred slid to her knees. "That was tiring…"

But not everyone was content with the resolution.

"Oh my God!" Toph screamed and grabbed hold of Sokka's arm. "I can't see!"

* * *

Aang heaved a sigh of relief. Ozai's inferno had finally ended. Fred must have succeeded. It was time to end this! He took an earthbending stance and prepared to knock the Firelord off his feet.

Nothing happened.

"Why can't I bend?" Aang asked no one in particular as he tried (and failed) again.

* * *

Somewhere in the Spirit World, a bizarre sort of movie party for one was being held.

"I can't believe it," Koh chortled as he watched Aang and Ozai continue their futile attempts to bend. "I can't believe I actually managed to trick the Moon Spirit into giving the Avatar that Sacred Crystal Orb. Did it occur to no one that it would take away the Avatar's bending as well?"

"You're despicable," a calm, even voice sighed from behind him.

Koh waited a few moments before wheeling around to face Avatar Yangchen. Unfortunately for him, she made no reaction. "Ah, well, we have to let things run their course now."

"True," Yangchen admitted. "Still, I have faith in Avatar Aang." She turned to leave, but added, "By the way, I believe I have business to attend to with my immediate successor."

Koh scurried away at the mere mention of Avatar Kuruk.

* * *

"This is just sad," Jet sighed as he watched the Avatar and the Firelord striking at the air in front of them from the sidelines.

"Someone should do something," Ty Lee observed. "You know, before Ozai makes the connection that he's a big buff guy and the Avatar's just a scrawny kid…"

Ozai turned to face Ty Lee for a moment before stalking forward to approach Aang more directly.

"Oops…" Ty Lee blushed.

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" Jet sighed. "You just had to say that. Are you sure you're on our side? Did Aang really just say okay when you said you wanted to join us?"

"I didn't mean to…" Ty Lee sniffed.

"Whatever," Jet groaned. "I'll fix it…"

He unsheathed his sword and deliberately marched toward the tyrant who was focused on the Avatar.

"This is for everyone," he breathed as he ran the sword through Ozai's heart. The Firelord gasped, went stiff, and fell dead.

"Father!" Azula gasped.

"And now the princess and the bounty hunter are here… Joyous…" Jet muttered. "Kill the climax just because the author forgot you for a second, why don't you…"

"Did you just say something?" Ty Lee asked.

"I don't think so," Jet shrugged.

"Traitor!" Azula ignored their private conversation and pointed an accusing finger at Ty Lee. "Jun! Sic your furry beast on them!"

"I think I'll hide behind you guys," Aang laughed nervously as he slipped behind the nonbenders.

Jun consulted with Nyla for a few moments before turning to Azula and saying, "Nyla doesn't want to."

"It doesn't want to?!" Azula screeched. "Well, that's just too bad, isn't it?"

"Frankly, I don't want to either," Jun admitted. "You're on the losing end of things, and now I'm getting this strange feeling that I won't get paid for any of this… Besides, that guy is kind of cute…"

"But that's my line!" Ty Lee was outraged.

"I have a girlfriend," Jet pointed out.

"They always do," Jun sighed. "First the angsty fire prince, then Edward, now you… If I ever find Bella Swan, she will not live to see another day… Anyway, I'm out of here."

With that, Jun mounted her shirshu and rode off into the sunset (kind of).

Azula was at Jet's mercy without her bending. Fortunately for her, she was also at Ty Lee's mercy, who insisted that Jet not kill Azula as he did the Firelord.

"This war is over!" Aang cheered.

* * *

**A/N**: Poor Aangy, he's useless without his bending... So, yeah, next is the epilogue...


	30. Epilogue

**Author's Note**: Well, this is it. The last chapter of "High School Can Really Burn"... *sigh*

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Avatar.

* * *

The war room of the Fire Nation's Royal Palace had been used for many things over the ages: religious festivals, heated political debates, coronations, discussions of strategy, Agni Kais, the creation of large-scale invasion plans, and a few rousing games of Pai Sho. But on this particular day, it housed the heroes who had won the war against the Firelord as they attempted to answer the difficult question they were confronted with at the war's end.

"Now what?" Mai put it bluntly.

"We're on clean-up duty, I guess," Aang shrugged.

"Well, since we seemed to agree on pardoning the whole damn Fire Nation Army," Jet rolled his eyes, "I think releasing the war prisoners should come first."

"I can take care of that," Sokka volunteered.

"I'll go too," Toph grinned, "Make sure Snoozles doesn't get into trouble."

"I think I'll visit back home at the Southern Water Tribe," Katara suggested, "Spread the good news, see how everyone's doing, help out the northerners if I can."

"Say hi to Gran Gran for me," Sokka smiled.

"I will," Katara agreed.

"How long do you think you'll be?" Zuko asked.

"I'm not sure," she shook her head, "A few months, probably. You're welcome to come with me."

"I should stay here at the palace," Zuko sighed, "Somebody has to hold down the fort, in case some freedom fighting psycho decides to take advantage of the end of the war to wipe out the rest of the Fire Nation, like he did to Firelord Ozai."

All eyes suddenly turned to Jet.

"Oh, come on," he groaned, "I'm not determined to kill all the Fire Nationers anymore. I've changed, I swear. If I weren't, little Zuzu would have kicked the bucket a while ago."

"You've expanded my confidence in you tenfold," Zuko rolled his eyes.

"We might have to keep you here, though," Mai smirked, "Matter of national security."

"I can't tell if you're joking right now," Jet admitted, "I really can't…"

"Well, anyway, I'll be sure to keep in touch," Katara changed the subject.

"I guess I'll take Appa and let the Earth Kingdom cities know they've been liberated," Aang suggested, "But I'll need a decree from the new Firelord to get anywhere with that." He looked hopefully at Zuko. The prince shook his head.

"The throne never belonged to my father," he said quietly.

* * *

"We are gathered here today," the head Fire Sage announced, "To witness the crowning of a new Firelord!"

Applause came from the crowd as the Prince-turned-General Iroh came onto the stage. Iroh began to make a speech about his brother's tyranny and his intentions to rule the Fire Nation for only a few years at most, until he felt his nephew was completely ready to take over the throne. But not everyone in the audience was listening to him.

"You two can stay here if you want to," Zuko whispered to Fred and Milo, "You might raise suspicion if you go back."

"But if you want to go," Aang pointed out, "Me and Zuko could try to take you to the Gateway in the Spirit World."

Milo looked to Fred, "I'll stay if you do. Same for leaving."

Fred was silent for a moment. "I… I still have some of the orb's power, don't I?" she finally asked.

"Uncle… thinks you might," Zuko admitted, "But that's irrelevant. Are you staying or going?"

Fred looked undecided, "I have… been feeling homesick lately… I think…"

The crown was placed on Iroh's head by the head Fire Sage.

"Hail Firelord Iroh!"

* * *

"Where are you taking me?" Azula struggled as the guards carried her away, "This is no way to treat a princess!"

"Shut it," one of the guards commanded, "We're taking you where you belong: a prison cell. Hope you like your cellmate, some old witch from a small town somewhere…"

The other guard silently took a key out of his pocket, and opened a cell. The two threw Azula to the ground and laughed as they closed the door behind her.

"Hello," an old woman sitting in the corner smiled kindly, "I suppose we're cellmates. My name is Hama. Who are you?"

"I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation," the girl proclaimed haughtily, "And I expect that you'll do exactly as I say, you old hag."

"Fire Nation?" a dangerous spark appeared in Hama's eyes, "Well then, I expect that you'll do exactly as I say. After all, tonight is the full moon, and I've been wanting someone to practice my bloodbending on… Get ready."

Azula had the strangest feeling that she wasn't going to like this.

* * *

The gateway stood before them. Fred gulped. She would finally be home, but…

"Good-bye," she turned and hugged Zuko, "I'll miss all of you guys."

"We'll miss you both too," Zuko smiled sadly, before reaching into his pocket, "Here," he pulled out a slip of paper, "Something to remember us all by."

Fred took it. An expired coupon for a free small cup of tea at a place called the Jasmine Dragon. A smile spread over her face, "Your uncle's idea?"

"Who else's?" Zuko asked, "Well…"

"Yeah…" Fred stared at her feet, "This is it… Zuko, Aang… Good-bye."

She turned and stepped through the gateway, with the expectation of never seeing either of them again. Milo waved and prepared to follow her.

"Listen, Milo," Zuko held him back for a moment, "I need you to do me a favor. I know you care about Fred, probably even more than I do-"

"Wait, you know about that?" Milo interrupted.

"Yeah, I think everyone except Fred knows…" Zuko shrugged, "Wait, you didn't tell her, did you?" Milo shook his head.

"Jet is so screwed," Zuko smirked, "So we won the bet after all…" Milo gave him a bewildered look.

"Yeah, there was a bet going… Jet and Toph thought you would tell her, but Mai and I knew you wouldn't. Whoever was wrong had to do whatever the winners said for a week. Anyway," Zuko coughed, "I need you to make sure that Fred doesn't use her powers. I don't want her getting hurt. And if you break your promise and Fred gets hurt and I find out, she'll have company in the infirmary, got that?"

Milo gulped, nodded, and scampered after Fred through the portal, leaving Zuko and Aang behind in the Spirit World.

"Gee, Zuko," Aang observed, "That was harsh."

Zuko merely shrugged.

* * *

A pair of teenagers stepped into the police station. The officer looked up from her paperwork and gasped. She really hadn't expected to recognize them, but they were the two who had gone missing about a month ago. Their names… Tallulah Culvid and Milo Dawson, weren't they?

"Hey," Fred cleared her throat, "Can we call our parents?"

Milo's parents came and left. It was odd. Their reunion had been without tears, without laughter. Just a "Good, you're all right," and a "Yeah, let's go home."

Fred stared at her feet. She was back. She was finally back. But she was alone, and always would be as long as Milo wasn't around. And her chances for track the next year were probably shot. And the chances she would meet Zuko again were slim. She really didn't have much reason to return, but…

The door opened and a middle-aged woman stepped in, anxious and seemingly on the verge of tears. Her eyes scanned the room before catching sight of Fred. The woman suddenly smiled as a tear escaped the corner of her eye. She ran forward to hug her daughter.

"Tallulah, you're home!"

"Yeah, Mom," Fred smiled softly as she returned her mother's embrace, "I'm home now. I'm home."

* * *

**A/N**: So, yeah, that was it... I was thinking of writing a sequel before, but I'm not so sure now. Let me know what you think... Y'know, it was really a Christmas miracle that I managed to finish writing this at all... Well, it's been fun, and thank you all for reading and giving feedback.

Ja na! ^_^


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